In 1999 and 2000, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety conducted a research program to identify barriers to analysis of large truck safety experience in the United States. The primary focus was on so-called Longer Combination Vehicles (LCVs) - the "doubles" and "triples" running on major highways throughout the country. Five states (Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah) participated in a review and evaluation of their data collection and analysis practices. Two of the states (Oregon and Utah) also participated in an audit of completed crash reports for crashes involving large trucks and specifically doubles and triples. The results show that none of the five states has a crash reporting system that adequately supports the analysis of LCV safety. In general, there is a lack of reliable data on the exact configuration of vehicles involved in crashes, as well as a lack of specific measures of exposure for LCVs. Without good data on configuration and good measures of exposure, the main question about LCV safety (i.e., are they more or less safe than other large commercial motor vehicles?) cannot be answered empirically. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for improving the quality of data on crashes involving large trucks and for improving the states' ability to analyze LCV crashes specifically. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting