A STUDY OF FATAL CRASHES INVOLVING PEDESTRIANS AND TRUCKS IN 4 CITIES

Crashes between pedestrians and large trucks, which were fatal to the pedestrians and occurred during 1986-90 in four cities, were studied u sing Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) data. Comparisons were mad e with similar fatal crashes between pedestrians and vehicles other th an large trucks. Data for truck crashes were supplemented with narrati ves and diagrams from police reports to develop a crash typology. Pede strian fatalities in crashes with trucks were more likely than those i nvolving other vehicles to occur at intersections, at traffic signals, during daylight hours, and to involve older pedestrians. Fifty-one pe rcent of pedestrians killed in collisions with trucks were over the ag e of 60, compared with 37% killed in collisions with other vehicles. O bstruction of truck driver visibility, caused by the design of truck c abs, appears to be a major contributing factor in crashes at intersect ions. The data suggest that greater emphasis should be placed on separ ating pedestrians and trucks at intersections and on designing truck c abs to improve driver visibility.