Impact of traffic citations to reduce truck crashes on challenging roadway geometry

Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2019 Mar;26(1):60-71. doi: 10.1080/17457300.2018.1476386. Epub 2018 May 30.

Abstract

Wyoming's Interstate 80 has one of the highest truck crash rates in the United States. This is due to a variety of reasons, including high percentage of truck traffic, adverse weather conditions and mountainous terrain. These factors have caused the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) to spend extensive resources on inspecting commercial vehicles and enforcement of traffic laws in this corridor. This study estimated the correlation between traffic citations and truck crashes. In addition, the paper evaluated the increased risk of truck crashes in adverse weather and road conditions. The explanatory variables included geometric features, weather condition, traffic volume and types of citations. This research concluded that speeding related citations and truck crashes are negatively correlated, and the risk of truck crashes is significantly higher when weather is not clear, and the road is not dry.

Keywords: Truck crashes; enforcement; mountainous freeway; regression analysis; risk of truck crashes; traffic citations.

MeSH terms

  • Accidents, Traffic / prevention & control
  • Accidents, Traffic / statistics & numerical data*
  • Automobile Driving / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Built Environment
  • Geography
  • Humans
  • Law Enforcement*
  • Motor Vehicles / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis
  • Weather
  • Wyoming