Mid-America Transportation Center
Date of this Version
2012
Document Type
Article
Citation
Report # MATC-KSU: 352 Final Report 25-1121-0001-352
Abstract
Statistics clearly demonstrate that large-truck crashes contribute to a significant percentage of high-severity crashes. It is therefore important for the highway safety community to identify the characteristics and contributory causes of these types of crashes. The first phase of the current research endeavor examined fatal crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database. In the second phase, presented in the current report, truck-crashes of all severity levels were analyzed with the intention of understanding characteristics and contributory causes, as well as identifying factors contributing to increased severity of truck-crashes. This goal could not be achieved by analyzing fatal crashes alone. Various statistical methodologies such as cross-classification analysis and severity models were developed using Kansas crash data. This study identified the characteristics, contributing causes, and specific factors related to the occurrence and increased severity of large-truck-crashes. By understanding these issues, countermeasures might be developed to mitigate the number and severity of truck crashes.
Comments
2012 Copyright of Mid-America Transportation Center