HEAVY TRUCK SAFETY IN A CHANGING HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION ENVIRONMENT
Heavy trucks are overrepresented in fatal crashes even when mileage is considered. Current programs for driver licensing and monitoring and for vehicle maintenance are totally inadequate. Our vehicle fleet is changing rapidly, with downsized passenger cars and larger trucks accounting for increasing proportions of the total fleet mileage. Occupants of smaller cars are more vulnerable to injury and are at a disadvantage in sharing the road with large trucks. Passing sight distances are a particular problem. The roadway facility also poses difficulties. Roadside appurtenances and deteriorating road surfaces are creating new problems for both cars and trucks. The vehicle is more amenable to change than are highways or drivers. The mechanical engineer is perhaps in the best position to resolve the safety problems of both heavy trucks and downsized cars.
-
Supplemental Notes:
- Presented at the Winter Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Phoenix, Arizona, November 14-19, 1982.
-
Corporate Authors:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Two Park Avenue
New York, NY United States 10016-5990 -
Authors:
- Waller, P F
- Publication Date: 1982
Media Info
- Features: References;
- Pagination: p. 39-49
-
Serial:
- Publication of: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- Publisher: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Compact automobiles; Driver licensing; Fatalities; Heavy duty trucks; Monitoring; Passing sight distance; Pavement surface course; Safety factors; Vehicle maintenance; Vehicle mix
- Old TRIS Terms: Small car
- Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I81: Accident Statistics; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00385285
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Files: HSL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: May 30 1984 12:00AM