Research into commercial vehicle accidents has been undertaken by the Department for Transport for many years. Commercial vehicles usually have very different design characteristics compared to cars, as well as different patterns of use, so the factors contributing to crashes and injuries can also be very different.ûThe overall aim of phase II of the HVCIS (Heavy Vehicle Crash Injury Study) was to "provide the Department with a sound data set, relating to vehicle damage and consequential injuries sustained in accidents involving commercial vehicles, which may then be readily interrogated during other focussed research projects on these vehicle types. The project achieves this aim by means of three different studies:ûRetrospectiveanalysis of police fatal accident reports, archived at TRL on behalf of the DfT, to identify and evaluate countermeasures to reduce the incidence and severity of these accidents. The Truck Crash Injury Study (TCIS) collects detailed information from investigations undertaken by the Vehicle andOperator Services Agency (VOSA) for both injury and non-injury accidents involving commercial vehicles, in 15 areas covering England, Scotland and Wales. The collection of information relating to agricultural vehicle accidents based on news cuttings and Stats19 analysis. (Author/publisher)
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