An empirical analysis of driver injury severities in work-zone and non-work-zone crashes involving single-vehicle large trucks

Abstract

Objectives Florida ranks among the states with the highest rates of work-zone crashes involving large trucks. With significant emphasis in Florida’s strategic highway safety plan, understanding work-zone crashes involving large trucks and resulting injury severities is critically important. This study investigated the contributing factors influencing the driver injury severity of single-large-truck crashes in work zones, benchmarked against non-work zones in Florida. Methods Using work-zone and non-work-zone crash data from 2011 to 2019 (inclusive), driver-injury severities in single-large trucks crashes were studied using random parameters logit models that allow for possible heterogeneity in the means and variances of parameter estimates. The available data included a wide variety of factors known to influence driver injury severity, including spatial and temporal; vehicle and traffic; roadway, harmful events, and driver characteristics. Results The model estimates produced fundamental shift in unobserved heterogeneity for work-zone and non-work-zone crashes involving single large trucks. More importantly, the likelihood of large truck drivers’ injury severity is about fourteen-times higher on rural and six-times higher on urban interstate highways and 1.3 times lower with 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit for large trucks inside work zones relative to non-work zones. The model results also indicate that the likelihood of severe driver injury is higher for heavy truck (more than 26000 pounds), a lane-shift work-zone configuration, and careless driving in work-zone crashes involving single large trucks. Conclusions The model findings add valuable insights to have profound effects in the safety performance of large trucks and in-vehicle safety technologies, such as, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, for careful driving along the work-zone segments with lower speed, leading to Automated Driving Systems. These measures include various policy-related safety countermeasures including revisiting traffic control plan for lane-shift on highways specifically for large trucks and developing training modules for Florida registered truck drivers.