CMV Safety | Freight Logistics & Policy | Truck Size & Weight | TACT | Wireless, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communication

Expectations of Future Crash Patterns With Increased Access by Larger Vehicles (e.g., 53-foot trailers) to N.C. and U.S. Highways

The data in the PowerPoint presentation — Fatal and Serious (A-level) Injury Crashes Involving CMVs as a Function of Class of Roadway (NC 2006-2007).pps — reports CMVinvolved crashes in North Carolina for the period 2006-2007 that involved fatalities (K) or serious (A-Level) injuries. The data are plotted as a function of whether the crash took place on an Interstate or on an N.C. or U.S.-numbered route. Note the significant differences (as would be expected) between the types of crashes on Interstates and those on NC and US routes. Bottom Line: Expect to see larger TTT (i.e., 53-foot trailer configurations) involved in theses types of crashes with the passage of the new legislation.

Note, as before, approximately 75-percent of K+A crashes involving CMVs take place on U.S. and N.C. routes; only about 25 percent on Interstates. And remember too that a crash involving a CMV on an N.C. or U.S. route is approximately twice as likely to involve a fatality as one occurring on the Interstate (as might be expected given the type of crashes - i.e., head-ons, crashes involving vehicles turning in front of other vehicles such as at left turns, angle crashes associated with lesser levels of access control, etc.). These data, from 2006 and 2007, support the earlier estimate that if the new legislation were to result in a 'shift' of one third of heavy truck crashes from the Interstate to N.C. and U.S. routes in N.C., there could be an increase of as many of 20 additional fatal CMV-involved crashes per year on N.C. and U.S. class roadways and a decrease of 10 fatal CMV-involved crashes per year on Interstate class roads (a net increase of 10 fatal CMV-involved crashes per year statewide).