ANALYSIS OF TRUCK, TRACTOR/TRAILER ACCIDENT DATA

Specific hypothesis pertaining to larger trucks and truck combinations are examined for their validity by reviewing existing information in the safety literature. The hypotheses are organized by their subject matter into catagories with include, accident characteristics other than injury; incidence of fatalities in truck accidents and individual truck safety factors. It was concluded that a truck in a multivehicle accident substantially increases the likelihood of a fatality; that trucks are likely to have more accident involvements than cars; in accidents involving cars and very heavy trucks, no definite conclusion is available on the effects of truck weight changes on the likelihood of a fatality in the car; and, it is recommended that the need for remedial activity be defined in terms of the magnitude of actual losses, and that statements establishing the need be scrutinized to insure that they properly reflect those losses.