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September 8, 2000 9:35 AM, EDT

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 5,362 people were killed in truck-involved crashes last year. Truck-involved crashes claimed 5,395 in 1998.

NHTSA’s report last week upated figures the agency had released in March, showing 5,203 truck-related fatalities in 1999 ("Truck Safety Gaining, Cirillo Tells Hill Panel," 3-06, p. 1). But that number rose after states reported additional deaths, said NHTSA spokesman Tim Hurd.

The number of people killed in accidents involving trucks dropped for the second consecutive year during 1999, even as 230,000 more trucks roamed the nation’s highways, according to revised federal statistics.

The drop in truck deaths occurred as the national traffic death count from all crashes increased, from 41,501 in 1998 to 41,611 in 1999.

More detailed data regarding the number of miles that commercial trucks logged on the nation’s highways and estimates of accident and injury numbers will be released over the next several weeks, Hurd said.