1. Nebraska Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes in Nebraska, 1996-1999 Dan Christensen Ming Qu Prabhakar Dhungana Nebraska Health and Human Services System

2. Definition CODES DBS: a database resulting from linking motor vehicle crash records (Crash), Emergency Medical Services records (EMS), Hospital Discharge records (HDD) and Death Certificates.

3. Definition (cont’d) A Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV): Any truck having at least 2 axles and 6 tires, any vehicle displaying a hazardous materials placard, or any bus designed to transport 16 or more passengers including the driver Current: A CMV is designated as any vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds, and/or designed to transport 16 or more passengers including the driver.

4. Definition (Con’d) Large Truck: Any truck having a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds. Passenger Vehicle: Any passenger car, light truck, or van weighing 10,000 pounds or less.

5. Introduction –More than 5,000 deaths occur each year in CMV crashes, accounting for about 13% of all the traffic deaths in the U.S. –Another 142, 000 people were injured in crashes involving CMVs in 1999 –In 1999, the estimated average cost for CMV crashes was more than $75,000 –Reducing CMV crashes is a national highway safety priority

6. Purpose To understand the pattern and nature of crashes involving CMVs in Nebraska To establish a baseline for CMV crashes surveillance in Nebraska

7. Method Descriptive analysis using four years of Nebraska CODES data (1996 to 1999) Compare injury severity, hospital charges, and various pre-crash factors between crashes involving CMVs and crashes not involving CMVs Examine the differences in demographics and behaviors of drivers for two-vehicle crashes (one CMV and one passenger vehicle)

8. Results  Of the 170,669 motor vehicle crashes that occurred from 1996 to 1999 in Nebraska, 10,939 (6.4%) involved CMVs.  These CMVs involved-crashes accounted for:  6.0% (26,867) of all persons involved in crashes  6.1% (4,140) of all crash injuries  18.4% (225) of all crash deaths  9.9% ($7,907,361) of all motor vehicle crash related hospital charges

12. Table 3

13. Map 1 N=8,200

17. Figure 6

18. PDO Injury Fatal

19. Figure 8

21. Conclusions Crashes involving CMVs tended to be severe PV occupants were more likely to be injured or killed when involved in crashes with CMVs PV Drivers were more likely responsible for crashes involving CMVs CMV drivers were found to be impaired much less often than PV drivers in both injury and fatal crashes

22. Recommendations Vehicle Modifications –Modify the structure of CMVs to make them less likely to inflict injuries in collisions with other vehicles –Make trucks more visible during night –Improve truck braking system

23. Enforcement –Improve enforcement of existing laws against unsafe driving acts in the vicinity of CMVs. –Enforcing following distance and vehicle speed

24. Education and Training –Increase passenger driver education about the differences between the performance of CMVs and passenger vehicles. –Increase CMV driver education about passenger vehicle driver behaviors –Develop CMV drivers training programs focused on defensive driving technique based on PV drivers’ unsafe driving habit. –Train law enforcement officers about the hazards of unsafe driving acts in the vicinity of CMVs.

25. Acknowledgement NHTSA Nebraska Office of Highway Safety Nebraska CODES Advisory Committee