Characterization of Commercial Vehicle Crashes and Driver Injury

About 360,000 commercial trucks are involved in traffic accidents in the United States per year. Approximately 20,000 truck drivers are injured in those crashes. This study examines traffic crashes of the commercial truck fleet for model years 2000 to 2008 contained in the Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents (TIFA) and General Estimates System (GES) databases. Specifically, driver injuries, using the KABCO scale (injury severity), were analyzed to determine the association with crash type as well as with the truck configuration. A crash typology was developed to identify crash types, including the type of other vehicle or object struck as well as the impact point on the truck, associated with the most serious injuries. This research focuses on the frequency of commercial vehicle accidents and driver injury levels rather than the cause of the vehicle crash. Based on these findings, example cases from LTCCS were selected. These examples typify the most frequent crashes and injuries.