FHWA-NJ-2002-021 IDENTIFYING FACTORS AND MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TRUCK CRASHES IN NEW JERSEY FINAL REPORT SEPTEMBER, 2003 Submitted by Dr. Janice Daniel and Dr. Steven Chien National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity New Jersey Institute of Technology NJDOT Research Project Manager Edward S. Kondrath In cooperation with New Jersey Department of Transportation Division of Research and Technology and U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration DISCLAIMER STATEMENT The contents of this report reflects the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the New Jersey Department of Transportation or the Federal Highway Administration. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. ii TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. FHWA-NJ-2002-021 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Identifying Factors and Mitigation Technologies In Truck Accidents in New Jersey September, 2003 6. Performing Organization Code NCTIP 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Janice Daniel, Steven Chien 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102-1982 11. Contract or Grant No. TO-30 13. Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Final Report New Jersey Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration PO 600 U.S. Department of Transportation 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Trenton, NJ 08625 Washington, D.C. 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract This report summarizes the results of the work performed under the project Identifying Factors and Mitigation Technologies in Truck Accidents in New Jersey. The goals of the research project were to identify statistically significant factors that contribute to truck accidents in New Jersey and to recommend technologies and strategies holding potential for use as countermeasures for the most prevalent of these factors. These goals of this research compliment the goals of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to reduce the number of truck-related fatalities by 50 percent. The results and findings of this research provide a basis for identifying factors that should be targeted to achieve these goals. It is well known that the roadways in New Jersey have the highest design standards: the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, the Atlantic City Expressway and the Interstate system also have the lowest accident rates. Recognizing this fact, legislation was passed in 1999, restricting through truck traffic to these higher type facilities. This legislation, however, does not address the large number of trucks that make deliveries to locations within the state or that originate at industries and businesses throughout New Jersey. These trucks must use all roadways in the state to reach their destinations. To better assist the state's transportation agencies, this report provides documentation of truck crash characteristics for the state of New Jersey. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Truck, Safety 19. Security Classif (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 66 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-69) i Acknowledgements The research presented in this report was performed with the assistance of Ken Hausman and several graduate students including: Guancheng Li, Rajat Rajbhandari, and Feng-Ming Tsai. ii Table of Contents List of Figures .............................................................................................................. v List of Tables ...............................................................................................................vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.0 Overview ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Objectives .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Organization....................................................................................................... 2 LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................... 4 2.0 Overview ........................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Size and Weight ................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Truck Configuration............................................................................................ 5 2.3 Roadway Characteristics ................................................................................... 5 2.4 Contributing Factors.......................................................................................... 6 2.5 Truck Speeding ................................................................................................. 7 2.6 Countermeasures.............................................................................................. 8 TRUCK CRASHES IN NEW JERSEY........................................................................... 10 3.0 Overview ......................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Truck Accident Summary ................................................................................ 10 3.2 Truck Configuration......................................................................................... 11 3.3 Roadway System ............................................................................................ 11 3.4 Collision Pattern.............................................................................................. 13 3.5 Light and Dark Conditions............................................................................... 16 3.6 Road Characteristics....................................................................................... 16 3.7 Accident Events .............................................................................................. 17 3.8 Truck Rollovers Crashes................................................................................. 19 3.9 Truck Driver Characteristics............................................................................ 19 3.10 Temporal Distribution of Accidents................................................................. 20 3.11 Accident Locations ......................................................................................... 20 3.12 Truck-Pedestrian Crashes.............................................................................. 22 FATAL TRUCK CRASH ANALYSIS.............................................................................. 26 4.0 Overview ......................................................................................................... 26 4.1 Involved Vehicles ............................................................................................ 26 4.2 Manner of Collision ......................................................................................... 27 4.3 Light Conditions .............................................................................................. 27 4.4 Roadway Characteristics ................................................................................ 27 4.5 Contributing Factors........................................................................................ 30 4.6 Violation Charges............................................................................................ 30 4.7 Accident Locations .......................................................................................... 30 iii TRUCK CRASH CASE STUDIES ................................................................................. 31 5.0 Overview ......................................................................................................... 31 TRUCK ACCIDENT INFORMATION............................................................................. 44 AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TAIMS) ...................................................................... 44 6.0 Overview ......................................................................................................... 44 6.1 Objective and Scope ....................................................................................... 44 6.2 Potential Benefits ............................................................................................ 45 6.3 Existing Accident Management Information Systems ..................................... 45 6.4 TAIMS .............................................................................................................. 46 6.5 Conclusions..................................................................................................... 57 6.6 Future Extensions of TAIMS ........................................................................... 58 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...............................................................................