Using Advanced Technologies to Reduce Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes in Work Zones

Commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) have been overrepresented in work zone fatal crashes for many years. While CMVs have been involved in approximately 13 percent of overall fatal crashes nationally outside of work zones, they have been involved in about 32 percent of fatal crashes in work zones. The issue is even more significant on rural interstate facilities, where nearly 56 percent of fatal work zone crashes involve a CMV. Work zones can also create significant congestion and advanced technologies can help CMV drivers avoid these congestion locations as well. Advanced technologies may better warn and inform CMV drivers in real-time about work zones they are approaching (e.g., through electronic driver logging or other in-cab devices) so that they can be better prepared to take appropriate actions. Opportunities also exist to utilize advanced technologies to help drivers of personal vehicles as well as highway workers better anticipate and accommodate CMVs operating in work zones. Smart work zone (SWZ) technologies are available that are designed to detect when construction-related CMV (or other vehicles) are exiting the work space and providing warning to motorists upstream of the work zone so that they can change lanes or otherwise prepare for the vehicle entering at a slower speed. Similar type systems can warn when CMVs are slowing to enter into a work space. Although implemented on a few projects nationally, such systems have yet to be rigorously evaluated in terms of their ability to improve safety and reduce CMV-involved crashes in work zones. Research is needed to identify functional requirements and develop evaluation methods to aid state DOTs in selecting advanced technologies to deploy. The objectives of this research are to identify available advanced technologies to mitigate CMV crashes in work zones and prioritize them in terms of implementation readiness criteria, support systems, required stakeholder collaboration, and anticipated effectiveness.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5350
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $500000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 17-121

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Crichton-Sumners, Camille

• Start Date: 20220607
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commercial vehicles; Deployment; State departments of transportation; Technological innovations; Traffic crashes; Warning systems; Work zone safety
• Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01845592
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 17-121
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 16 2022 3:04PM