Researchers: David Noyce (PI), Andrea Bill, Madhav Chitturi
Primary Project Objectives
This research focuses on gaining a better understanding of factors that lead to commercial or large motor vehicle crashes. With approximately 5,000 large trucks involved in fatal crashes each year, roughly 5,400 people were killed in those crashes. In Wisconsin alone there were 29 truck fatal crashes in 2009, in addition to 674 involved in injury crashes and 2,273 involved in property damage only crashes. By gaining a better understanding of enforcement, fatigue and geometric factors, we can develop ways to limit fatal crashes.
The purpose of this research is to better understand the relationship between geometric factors, access management, traffic control, and CMVs on arterial roadways. By looking at other causes of crashes (such as fatigue or the lack of enforcement), a well-rounded risk-based index can be developed. Due to the lack of prior research in the State of Wisconsin with regards to large truck crashes on arterial roads, the use of the Wisconsin Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory’s WisTransPortal can help to localize a risk-based index due to local variability in design practices or weather. Roadway inventory, traffic and crash data were integrated in a GIS framework for this research.
