Investigating the effect of light truck vehicle percentages on head-on fatal traffic crashes

    Authors

    H. Abdelwahab;M. Abdel-Aty

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Transp. Eng.-ASCE

    Keywords

    traffic accidents; time series analysis; trucks; vehicles; collisions; SPORT UTILITY; COLLISIONS; CAR; Engineering, Civil; Transportation Science & Technology

    Abstract

    The market share of light truck vehicles (LTVs) is increasing rapidly, causing a change in traffic composition in the United States. LTVs include vans, minivans, light duty trucks, and sport-utility vehicles. Users of such vehicles appreciate the extra size, utility, and safety provided. Concerns about the effects of these LTVs on other passenger cars when they both collide are increasing. This paper investigates the effect of the increased percentage of LTVs in traffic on fatalities that result from head-on collisions. It also addresses the impact of crash configuration (car-car, car/LTV, and LTV-to-LTV). Time series models that incorporate the percentage of LTVs in traffic are used to analyze and forecast the future fatality trends that result from head-on collisions. The analysis is based on the fatality analysis reporting system crash database covering the period of 1975-2000. Forecasts from the fitted time series model of head-on collisions showed that during the next ten years, annual deaths in head-on collisions will reach 5,325 by the year 2010, which represents an increase of 8% over the year 2000 figure.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Transportation Engineering-Asce

    Volume

    130

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2004

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    429

    Last Page

    437

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000222249600004

    ISSN

    0733-947X

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