Crash involvement of large trucks by configuration: a case-control study.

For a two-year period, large truck crashes on the interstate system in Washington State were investigated using a case-control method. For each large truck involved in a crash, three trucks were randomly selected for inspection from the traffic stream at the same time and place as the crash but one week later. The effects of truck and driver characteristics on crashes were assessed by comparing their relative frequency among the crash-involved and comparison sample trucks. Double trailer trucks were consistently overinvolved in crashes by a factor of two to three in both single and multiple vehicle crashes. Single unit trucks pulling trailers also were overinvolved. Doubles also had a higher frequency of jackknifing compared to tractor-trailers. The substantial overinvolvement of doubles in crashes was found regardless of driver age, hours of driving, cargo weight, or type of fleet. Younger drivers, long hours of driving, and operating empty trucks were also associated with higher crash involvement.