Abstract
A retrospective population-based case-control study was performed to determine the association between vehicle fires, and vehicle, collision, and driver factors on highways with a posted speed limit of at least 55 mph. Data were obtained from the Kentucky Collision Report Analysis for Safer Highways (CRASH) electronic files for 2000-2009 from the Kentucky State Police Records Sections. The results from the final multiple logistic regression show that large trucks were at a higher risk for a collision involving a fire than passenger vehicles and pickup trucks. When controlling for all other variables in the model, vehicles 6 years old and older, driving straight down the highway, and single vehicle collisions were also identified as factors that increase the risk of motor vehicle collision fires on roadways with a posted speed limit of ≥55 mph. Of the 2096 vehicles that caught fire, there were 632 (30%) non-fatally injured drivers and 224 (11%) fatally injured drivers. The results of this study have the potential to inform public health messages directed to the transportation industry, particularly semi truck drivers, in regard to fire risk.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 140-145 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Accident Analysis and Prevention |
| Volume | 47 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are grateful to the Kentucky State Police for supplying the electronic CRASH data for this study. This work was supported by Grant/Cooperative agreement number 2U60OH008483-07 from NIOSH . Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH.
Keywords
- Fire
- Injury
- Passenger vehicles
- Pickup trucks
- Semi trucks
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Human Factors and Ergonomics
- Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
