Light Vehicle-Heavy Vehicle Interactions: A Preliminary Assessment Using Critical Incident Analysis

Two recently completed on-road, in situ data collection efforts provided a large data set in which to conduct an examination of near-crashes and crashes (critical incidents) that occurred between light vehicles (LV) and heavy vehicles (HV). Video and other sensor data collected during the two studies were used to characterize critical incidents that were recorded between LV and HV drivers. Across both studies, 210 LV-HV critical incidents were recorded. Of these, 78 percent were initiated by the light vehicle driver. Aggressive driving, on the part of the LV driver, was found to be the primary contributing factor for LV driver initiated incidents. For HV driver initiated incidents, the primary contributing factor was poor driving technique. The results suggest that efforts at addressing LV-HV interaction incidents should focus on aggressive light vehicle drivers. Additionally, it is recommended that HV drivers might benefit from improved driver training that includes instruction on defensive driving.