USE OF REFLECTORIZATION TO REDUCE TRUCK-TRAILER ACCIDENTS

Accidents in which vehicles strike large trucks produce a disproportionately large number of fatalities. It is hypothesized that increasing a truck's visibility or conspicuity will reduce the number of vehicles colliding with trucks. The purpose of this project was to thoroughly analyze this specific accident problem, establish information requirements of vehicle drivers, review the state of the art of conspicuity techniques, design and conduct a series of conspicuity experiments, design a new integrated lighting and marking system, design an augmented low-cost reflectorized system for retrofitting on large trucks, and field test the augmented system on fleets of trucks. Augmented systems were fitted on 2,060 trailers, and accident rates were monitored and compared to those of a matched control group of 2,060 nonreflectorized trailers. Both reflectorized and control groups accumulated over 106 million mi. Final accident rates indicated that the reflectorized trailers were involved in conspicuity-related accidents 15.1 percent less frequently than control trailers.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1987/1149/1149-009.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=USE+OF+REFLECTORIZATION+TO+REDUCE+TRUCK-TRAILER+ACCIDENTS&author=W.+BURGER&author=R.+Smith&publication_year=1987
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309046599
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Visibility. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Burger, William J
  • Smith, Russel L
• Publication Date: 1987

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 50-55
• Monograph Title: VISIBILITY FOR HIGHWAY GUIDANCE AND HAZARD DETECTION
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1149
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Design; Field tests; Lighting; Measures of effectiveness; Reflective signs; Retrofitting; Safety; State of the art studies; Tractor trailer combinations; Traffic safety; Trucks; Visibility
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness
• Old TRIS Terms: Marking; Reflector markers
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00476065
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0-309-04659-9
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 30 1988 12:00AM