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f you need a road map to get you through our Page One story about large-truck-involved fatalities, take heart in knowing that you are not alone. (Click here for related news story.)

The good news is that the fatality rate — that is, the rate at which people died in crashes per 100 million miles driven by large trucks — fell during 2005, according to the latest data from the Department of Transportation. That marked the first decline in the rate in three years.

What’s not so good is that the rate of 2.34 is an improvement over 2004’s 2.37 deaths per 100 million miles driven, because the older data were significantly revised by DOT when it released the new data.

DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has set as the trucking industry’s goal reaching the fatality rate of 1.65 deaths per 100 million miles driven.

That means there’s much work to be done in improving highway safety. It also buttresses FMCSA Administrator John Hill’s support for the idea of having the government provide financial incentives to fleets to add new safety technology to trucks.

Meanwhile, in another data category, the fatal crash rate — the number of fatal crashes per 100 million miles driven by large trucks — remained the same in 2005 as it was the year before: 2.03.

However, the original data provided by DOT for 2004 had put the crash rate at an all-time low of 1.96.

The changes were caused by a cut in the number of miles driven and an increase in the number of fatalities, as reported by branches of DOT.

While it’s always good to see safety numbers improving, the significant changes in the DOT data have to make us pause before celebrating, knowing that the new data could also be altered somewhere down the road.

Dave Osiecki, vice president of safety, security and operations for American Trucking Associations, said, “Many commented on the 2004 preliminary data, including ATA, only to see the preliminary numbers changed by DOT.”

He said ATA was “beginning to question the value of even releasing preliminary numbers.”

Perhaps we’d all be better served if DOT took a little more time and, instead of releasing what is clearly preliminary data, waited until it was sure of its numbers.

In the end, however, all parties agree that what’s most important is reducing highway fatalities.

This editorial appears in the Dec. 4 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.