Authors
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Type
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Availability
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Research
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Factors
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Speed
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Driver
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Seatbelts
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Infrastructure
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Vehicle
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Control issues
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Other
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Brodie, Bugeja, & Ibrahim (2009)
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Journal article
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Public
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Review of Coroners’ files of heavy vehicle driver fatalities from 1999 - 2007
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Excessive or inappropriate speed
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Substance use
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Non-use of restraints
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Leaving road out of control
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McKnight & Bahouth (2009)
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Journal article
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Public
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Analysis of information form investigated truck roll over crashes
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Inappropriate speed
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Inattention (including distraction) and
Fatigue
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Road surface and intersections
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Load and brake condition
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Oversteer, understeer, overcorrecting errors, and minor control errors
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Brodie, Bugeja, & Ibrahim (2010)
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Journal article
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Public
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Examination of Coroners’ recommendations on fatal heavy vehicle crashes
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Comments to address road environment factors
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Tziotis, Pyta, & McLean (2009)
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AustRoads report
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Public
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Site investigation of a sample of Australian and New Zealand locations of multiple heavy vehicle crashes
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Intersections - visibility, delineation, insufficient signage or advisory, unsealed shoulders, roadside hazards, and lack of adequate safety barriers
Road segments - poor surface condition, unsealed shoulders, visibility for overtaking, lack of adequate signage, and roadside hazards within the clear zone (e.g., trees, poles, & culverts)
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Styles, Mabbott, Roberts, & Tziotis (2008)
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AustRoads report
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Public
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Analysis of crash data, inspection of heavy vehicle crash sites, literature review, and stakeholder workshops to identify key factors in heavy vehicle crashes
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Road design - alignment, signage, lane capacity, clear zones, overtaking lanes, level crossings, signalised intersection clearance times, and off-street loading/unloading facilities
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (2006)
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Report
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Public
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A sample of large-truck fatal and injury crashes investigated from 2001 - 2003 at a number of sites across the US.
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Inappropriate speed
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Fatigue, driver recognition and decision errors (however these issues were more common amongst drivers of passenger vehicles)
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Brake problems
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Adverse weather conditions and changes to traffic flow
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Park & Jvanis (2010)
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Journal article
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Public
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A case control study of 231 truck (and 462 matched controls) crashes from 2004.
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Crash risk was associated with hours of driving with increases of 50-260% compared to first hour of driving
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Crash risk of non-sleeper operations associated with multiday driving.
Crash risk of sleeper operations associated with hours of driving
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Korkut, Ishak, & Wolshon (2010)
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Journal article
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Public
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Analysis of traffic and crash data for an elevated section of rural highway in southern Louisiana.
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Speed, speed variance, and differences between truck and car speeds were positively correlated with crash rates
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Prohibiting trucks from using left lane (US) with a speed limit of 55 mph in conjunction with a 60 mph limit for cars on a four lane rural freeway has road safety benefits.
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Violation of lane restriction and lane occupancy were positively correlated with crash rates
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Blower, Green, & Matteson (2010)
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Journal article
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Public
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Examination of the link between mechanical condition of trucks and crash involvement using data from the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LCTSS)
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55% of vehicles in the LTCCS had one or more mechanical violations,
30% had at least one out-of-service condition.
Violations in brake and lighting systems were the most frequent mechanical failures.
Hours of service violations and log out-of-service violations increased likelihood of precipitating a crash by 2 and 2.2 times respectively.
Brake violations increase odds of a truck being the striking vehicle by 1.8 times for rear-end and cross-path crashes.
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Hakkanen & Summala (2001)
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Journal article
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Public
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A study of fatal 2-vehicle crashes involving trucks and surveys of 251 long-haul truck drivers regarding factors that contribute to crashes
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16% of truck drivers involved in crashes were responsible for the crashes. Factors that increased the likelihood of being responsible for the crash included younger age and driving at night.
13% of drivers had driven for periods over the prescribed 10 hours, 4% were tired prior to the crash, and 2% had fallen asleep before the crash.
Accidents were viewed as being caused by other drivers.
Truck drivers were more likely to report fatigue as a causal factor if they had previously experienced fatigue problems.
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Zhu & Srinivasan (2011)
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Journal article
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Public
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Analysis of factors affecting the injury severity of large truck crashes using data from the LTCCS.
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Driver factors increasing severity of crash included: distraction (truck drivers), alcohol use (car) and emotional factors (car).
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Head on and intersection crashes more severe than crashes on multi-lane highways
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Zhu & Srinivasan (2011)
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Journal article
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Public
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Models factors that contribute to the severity of crashes involving tucks and cars.
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Car drivers aged over 55, or who have used drugs or alcohol have an increased risk of severe injury in truck-car crashes.
Injury severity increases for car drivers in crashes where truck drivers have used alcohol.
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For truck drivers crashes on “non-junction” parts of highways are less severe than intersections and junctions.
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For truck drivers rear end crashes with cars produce least severe injuries and head on collisions with cars more serious than other truck-car crashes.
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Peak morning traffic increases injury severity for truck drivers.
Collision with a fixed object has a high severity for truck drivers. Single truck roll-over crashes are more serious than multi-truck crashes.
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Bjornstig, Bjornstig, & Eriksson (2008)
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Journal article
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Public
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Examines the incidence of car-truck collisions in Sweden.
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Among car drivers killed in collisions with trucks suicide was indicated in 4%, a rate which doubled for car drivers who crashed into trucks.
4% of car drivers killed had BACs over the legal limit.
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Crashes into trucks generally occurred on 70-90km/h two-lane roads
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Crashes into trucks generally occurred during the daylight, in winter, and on workdays.
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Campbell (1991)
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Journal article
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Public
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Examines the association between driver age and involvement in large truck crashes
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Fatal accident involvement was found to increase with decreasing driver age. Drivers under the age of 21 were 6 times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than other drivers. This association was not due to other factors related to crash involvement.
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Young & Liesman (2007)
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Journal article
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Public
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Seeks to correlate overturning freight vehicle crashes with wind speeds measured at nearby weather stations in the US state of Wyoming
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Local wind speeds predicted the likelihood of an overturning crash. Weather station data can also be used to predict overturning crashes.
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Lisa, Lyndall, & Elias (2009)
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Journal article
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Public
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Describes the nature, extent, and contributory factors of 61 fatal heavy vehicle crashes in Victoria between 1999-2007.
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One third of fatally injured drivers were travelling at excessive or inappropriate speed
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Stimulant or cannabis use was detected for one in six fatally injured drivers.
In 27 cases where medical history was known 20 drivers were found to have significant medical conditions.
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Non use of seat belts in 17 of the 25 cases where seat belt use was known.
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One third of crashes were single vehicles leaving the road on a straight section of road.
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Blower & Matteson (2009)
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UMTRI
Report
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Public
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Presents statistics for trucks involved in crashes throughout the United States for 2007.
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Excessive speed identified in 9% of crashes.
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For truck drivers: 2% had been drinking alcohol. Drug use was reported for 1%. 2% were reported as drowsy or asleep prior to the crash. 6% of crashes were attributed to inattention, 4% a failure to yield, and <1% using mobile phone.
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80% of crashes occurred on highways.
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36% of crashes involved rigid trucks, the remaining 64% were articulated.
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80% of crashes occurred on dry roads.
Two thirds of crashes occur in rural areas and during daylight hours.
85% of crashes occurred in “normal” weather.
In 11% of crashes the other vehicle had crossed the centre line and struck the truck head on.
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (2010)
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Report
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Public
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US statistics of large truck crashes for 2008.
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Driving too fast for conditions or at excessive speed was the second most common factor for truck and passenger vehicle drivers.
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For truck drivers: Driver factors implicated in 68% of single vehicle and 30% of multiple vehicle crashes.
For passenger vehicle drivers: Driver factors implicated in 85% single vehicle and 55% multiple vehicle crashes.
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11% of truck drivers were not wearing a seat belt
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Failure to stay in lane was the most common factor for both truck driver and passenger vehicle drivers.
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20% of fatal and 17% of injury crashes were single-vehicle crashes.
64% of fatal crashes occurred on rural roads.
The majority of all crashes occurred on a weekday.
33% of fatal and 24% of property crashes occurred at night.
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Sullivan (2005)
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UMTRI report
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Public
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Examines the factors that influence truck involvement in night time crashes.
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Younger drivers had a lower dark/light ratio in night time fatal rear end crashes than did older drivers.
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Dark/light odds of crashing were greater in rural compared to urban areas.
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Sullivan & Flannagan (2004)
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UMTRI report
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Public
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Examines the influence of lighting conditions on rear end crashes with trucks.
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Rear end crashes between any vehicles were twice as likely during night.
Fatal rear end crashes involving a struck truck were 9 times more likely in darkness than in light.
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Sweatman, Ogden, Haworth, Corben, Rechnitzer, & Diamantopoulou (1995)
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FORS report
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Public
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Research into the type, severity, and causes of truck crashes in urban areas.
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Deficiencies in driver, rider, and pedestrian behaviour significantly contribute to causes of crashes.
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Highlights the importance of the traffic engineering design of controlled and uncontrolled intersections.
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Design of truck needs to be addressed to reduce aggressivity and improve drivers’ field of vision.
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Rechnitzer (1993)
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MUARC report
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Public
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Research to establish the causal factors that contribute to high levels of fatalities and injury arising from crashes involving heavy vehicles.
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Differences in mass and rigidity means cars need to absorb more energy; car occupants also experience greater velocity change.
Differences in size and height allows smaller vehicles to underrun trucks causing significant intrusion.
Car occupants hitting rigid truck structures or car intrusion causes head and chest injuries.
Unguarded truck wheels are a hazard for pedestrians and cyclists.
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Craft (2007)
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FMCSA Tech brief
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Public
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Describes the incidence of rear-end crashes involving large trucks that are struck by other cars or are the striking vehicle.
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Alcohol use by other drivers in rear end crashes is much higher than among truck drivers for striking and struck vehicles
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Where a truck is the striking vehicle the causal factors of defective or poorly adjusted brakes are twice as likely to contribute to a rear end crash compared to when other vehicles strike a truck.
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Trucks strike other vehicles in the rear more often than they are struck. However, in fatal crashes trucks are struck more often by other vehicles.
Around half of fatal crashes where another vehicle strikes the rear of a truck occur in dark but lighted conditions.
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Evans, Batzer, & Andrews (2005)
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Conference paper
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Public
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US evaluation of truck rollover crashes from 1994-2002 using FARS data.
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Poor structural integrity during rollover is a primary cause of death for drivers of large trucks.
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Khorashadi, Niemeier, Shankar, & Mannering (2005)
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Journal article
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Public
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Examines the differences between urban and rural driver injuries involving large trucks using California accident data.
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In crashes where drugs or alcohol were identified as a primary cause of the crash, risk of severe/fatal injury increased by 250% in rural and 800% in urban areas.
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In rural crashes involving articulated trucks the risk of severe/fatal injury increased by 26% relative to crashes involving rigid trucks.
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Speculation that differences between urban and rural injury severities may be attributable to the different perceptual, cognitive and response demands on drivers in rural vs urban areas.
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Imberger, Styles, & Walsh (2009)
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Conference paper
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Public
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An analysis of Victorian truck rollover crashes using data from VicRoads crash information system and NTI for the period 2003-2007.
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41% of crashes involved inappropriate speed (NTI).
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30% involved fatigue (NTI); 25% met criteria for a fatigue related crash (VicRoads).
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60% of drivers killed were not wearing a seat belt.
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47% occurred on bends with the majority in 100 km/h zones (VicRoads).
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60% of rollovers involved semi-trailers & 23% involved B-doubles (NTI); Two thirds of rollovers involved semi-trailers (VIcRoads).
Dry loads were involved in the greatest number of rollovers accounting for 36% (NTI).
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10% of crashes were rollovers (VicRoads).
86% of rollovers were single vehicle crashes (VicRoads).
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McLean (2009)
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Conference paper
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Public
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Categorises the lead-in path characteristics of a representative accident sample set of articulated single vehicle loss of control crashes on curves.
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Negotiating relatively narrow windy roads.
Negotiating long sweeping curves.
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Negotiating alternate lock curve sequences.
Negotiating a curve while applying, and post, high torque application of steering.
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Kharrazi & Thomson (2008)
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Conference paper
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Public
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An analysis of heavy truck loss of control crashes based on the LTCCS.
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A road sloping down was more often associated with loss of control than a road sloping up.
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Three critical manoeuvres were identified as the most common causing loss of control: negotiating a curve, avoidance manoeuvres, and road edge recovery.
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Dry roads were present in 75% of LOC crashes, however wet roads were associated with more than 50% of cases with yaw instability.
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Shearer (2002)
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Conference paper
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Public
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A paper outlining issues relevant to heavy vehicle road safety in remote areas.
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Speed contributes to heavy vehicle crashes in remote areas.
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Fatigue and driving hours contribute to crashes in remote areas.
Drivers’ attitudes towards safe driving are also an issue.
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Failure to wear seatbelts is an issue in crashes in remote areas.
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Road conditions contribute to crashes in remote areas.
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Hassall (2002)
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Conference paper
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Public
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Examines the incidence and characteristics of urban truck crashes from 1990 to 1999.
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Most truck related fatal crashes occur in low speed zones (<60km/h); the truck is responsible for the crash in around one third of incidents.
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50-58% of urban truck crashes happen in locations other than intersections.
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The minority of truck related fatal crashes occurred in urban areas. 33% of rigid truck crashes and 23% of serious injury crashes involving trucks occur in urban areas.
Nearly 80-90% of urban truck related accidents occur between 6am and 8pm.
Passenger sedan and pedestrian behaviour require considerable attention within the urban environment.
Urban articulated truck combinations increased their numbers and urban travel by 23% and 37% respectively; urban articulated fatalities decreased over the period.
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Curnow (2002)
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Conference paper
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Public
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Examination of heavy vehicle crash data for the year 2000 from the NTI and the ATCD databases.
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10% of articulated and 3% of heavy rigid trucks were probably speeding at the time of the crash.
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10% of articulated truck drivers and 2% of heavy rigid truck drivers may have been suffering from fatigue.
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Two thirds of articulated truck drivers and 50% of heavy rigid truck drivers killed in single vehicle crashes were not wearing a seat belt.
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Crashing at an intersection was the most common crash factor.
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For crashes occurring at outward trip distances of 201-300km, 410-500km, and 701-800km the most common type of crash involved the truck running off the road.
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25% of heavy truck crashes were single vehicle crashes.
Two thirds of heavy truck crashes with other vehicles involved passenger cars and 10% involved light trucks.
Articulated truck crashes were distributed evenly throughout the day while heavy rigid truck crashes occurred between 6am and 6pm.
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Williamson, Irvine, & Friswell (2003)
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Conference paper
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Public
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Examines patterns of HV crashes in NSW between 1996-2000.
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Higher proportions of HV crashes occurred on higher speed roads.
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Higher proportions of crashes occurred in country areas.
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Articulated heavy trucks, B-doubles, and roadtrains showed the highest rates of crashes per registered heavy truck.
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Where the HV was deemed responsible for the crash the main type of crash was off path on curve or pedestrian related.
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A higher proportion of crashes occurred between midnight and dawn.
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Driscoll (2011)
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NTI Major accident investigation report.
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Public
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A review of heavy truck crashes with an aggregate cost greater than $50,000 managed by the National Claims Centre of the NTI.
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32% of incidents could be attributed to inappropriate speed.
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The number of Fatigue related crashes reduced by 50%
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B-doubles carry 46% of the freight task and account for around 30% of all major truck crashes.
Semi-trailers were involved in 60% of major crashes but
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70% of crashes involved no other vehicle.
In fatal crashes involving another vehicle the other driver was determined to be at fault in 82% of incidents.
A 27% reduction in serious truck crashes since 2002 was reported.
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