Characteristics and Contributory Causes Related to Large Truck Crashes (Phase II): All Crashes

014700132012Final report.PDFTech Report25-1121-0001-352Truck accidentsAccident dataAccident causesAccident severityFatalitiesAccident analysisStatisticsResearch HubTraffic accident investigationTruck accidentsTraffic fatalitiesKansasUnited StatesMid-America Transportation CenterDissanayake, SunandaKotikalapudi, SiddharthaMid-America Transportation CenterUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationUniversity Transportation Centers Program (U.S.)NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-AccidentsNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway SafetyNTL-REFERENCES AND DIRECTORIES-StatisticsUS Transportation CollectionStatistics 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