UAB Study on Trucking Safety to Save Lives, Industry Millions

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) a one-year, $275,000 grant to study ways to help prevent commercial trucking collisions and curb the severity of injuries when they occur.

December 4, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) a one-year, $275,000 grant to study ways to help prevent commercial trucking collisions and curb the severity of injuries when they occur.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 5,000 people died and another 131,000 were injured in 2001 in collisions involving large commercial trucks. The Pacific Institute for Research Evaluation reports that these crashes cost the U.S. economy about $24 billion a year.

“There is a pressing need for enhancing trucking safety in the United States, for both truck drivers and the motoring public,” said principal investigator Fouad Fouad, Ph.D., chairman of the department of civil and environmental engineering. “We are drawing upon the expertise of several research departments – including engineering, medicine and psychology – to identify factors that contribute to commercial vehicle collisions, assess measures that can help prevent collisions and reduce the severity of collisions when they occur.”

The multi-disciplinary research team will look at five areas of concern:

  • Risk-taking behavior among commercial motor vehicle drivers — David C. Schwebel, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UAB Department of Psychology, will examine how drivers weigh the costs and benefits of taking a driving risk. Interventions will be developed aimed at changing drivers’ risk-taking behavior through driver education, changing company policies that might encourage risk-taking behavior, and legislating regulations for safe driving and driver management.

  • Enhancing commercial motor vehicle safety through advanced technology — Virginia P. Sisiopiku, Ph.D., an associate professor in the UAB Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will examine the effectiveness of several products that have been developed for driver assistance. She will develop a systematic and easy-to-understand analysis of the cost, benefits and implications of adopting advanced technologies. The results from the study will help decision makers allocate resources to the most effective safety options.

  • Compartmentalized Tanker Truck Safety Design — Robert W. Peters, Ph.D., P.E., an assistant professor in the UAB Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will investigate various approaches to minimizing or preventing fires that result from collisions involving tanker trucks and railroad tankers carrying flammable materials.

  • Multifunctional Sandwich Materials for Commercial Motor Vehicle Applications — Nassim Uddin, Ph.D., P.E., an assistant professor in the UAB Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will investigate enhancements to commercial vehicles that would provide increased driver protection and/or lessen fatalities, injuries and damage to drivers and occupants in the event of a crash.

  • Medical Student Training in Injury Sciences — Loring W. Rue III, M.D., F.A.C.S., director of the Center for Injury Sciences at UAB, will direct five medical students who will assist in investigating how the driver risk-behavior study and safety initiatives translate into an established regional trauma system with Automatic Crash Notification (ACN) capabilities.

Fouad said the multi-disciplinary approach to studying trucking safety will provide an overall framework to help ensure better safety initiatives for both commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicle drivers.

“The safety all Americans on our roadways is the priority of this study,” he said. “Through our research departments, ongoing research programs and partnerships with other universities, UAB is able to provide a comprehensive research program that will address all aspects of commercial vehicle safety. The project leaders have extensive knowledge and expertise in the area of transportation engineering and safety, and specifically in the particular technical area they are leading.”

Once complete, Fouad said, the Department of Transportation can take each part of the study and integrate it into safety procedures and designs that can be easily and cost-effectively implemented by trucking companies across the country.