Aggressive driving (e.g., speeding, reckless driving, and red-light running) and driver distraction (e.g., texting while driving) have widely been reported as the two main causes of traffic crashes. These two crash types could be even more serious if involved commercial motor vehicles “CMVs” (i.e., large trucks and buses). For the years 2015-2019 in Kentucky, aggressive driving and distracted driving accounted for about 30% and 41% of severe (fatal or serious injury) CMV-related crashes, respectively. This study compares the crash occurrence and crash injury severity outcomes (severe vs. non-severe) concerning each of aggressive driving and distracted driving under various circumstances. Detailed information on five-year (2015-2019) CMV crash data, and roadway and traffic characteristics were collected. A total of 30,084 CMV crashes were finally extracted, of which 5,981 crashes were related to aggressive driving and 10,955 crashes were attributed to driver distraction. Separate Z-tests of proportions and chi-square tests of independence were applied to identify the factors affecting the occurrence and severity of crashes for each of aggressive-driving and distracted-driving CMV-related crashes. The results showed that both aggressive and distracted-driving CMV crashes were more likely to occur during daytime, on straight sections, with younger and older at-fault driver involvement, in urban areas, on road segments with wider lane widths, on segments with speed limits ≥ 55 mph, and at intersections. Some factors, e.g., concrete pavement, weekend indicator, two-lane segments, and divided roadways, were found to be significantly associated with either aggressive or distracted-driving crashes. Other factors, such as dry road surfaces, clear weather condition, interstate indicator, annual average daily traffic (AADT) per lane ≥ 10,000, and heavy vehicle percentage (HVP) ≥ 4%, had opposite safety impact on these two crash types. Weekdays, two-lane segments, undivided road segments, non-interstate roadways, and intersections were found to only affect the severity of aggressive-driving CMV-related crashes. Interestingly, lane widths ≤ 11 feet increased the severe aggressive-driving CMV crash risk, but reduced the severe distracted-driving crash risk.

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Aggressive driving (e.g., speeding, reckless driving, and red-light running) and driver distraction (e.g., texting while driving) have widely been reported as the two main causes of traffic crashes. These two crash types could be even more serious if involved commercial motor vehicles “CMVs” (i.e., large trucks and buses). For the years 2015-2019 in Kentucky, aggressive driving and distracted driving accounted for about 30% and 41% of severe (fatal or serious injury) CMV-related crashes, respectively. This study compares the crash occurrence and crash injury severity outcomes (severe vs. non-severe) concerning each of aggressive driving and distracted driving under various circumstances. Detailed information on five-year (2015-2019) CMV crash data, and roadway and traffic characteristics were collected. A total of 30,084 CMV crashes were finally extracted, of which 5,981 crashes were related to aggressive driving and 10,955 crashes were attributed to driver distraction. Separate Z-tests of proportions and chi-square tests of independence were applied to identify the factors affecting the occurrence and severity of crashes for each of aggressive-driving and distracted-driving CMV-related crashes. The results showed that both aggressive and distracted-driving CMV crashes were more likely to occur during daytime, on straight sections, with younger and older at-fault driver involvement, in urban areas, on road segments with wider lane widths, on segments with speed limits ≥ 55 mph, and at intersections. Some factors, e.g., concrete pavement, weekend indicator, two-lane segments, and divided roadways, were found to be significantly associated with either aggressive or distracted-driving crashes. Other factors, such as dry road surfaces, clear weather condition, interstate indicator, annual average daily traffic (AADT) per lane ≥ 10,000, and heavy vehicle percentage (HVP) ≥ 4%, had opposite safety impact on these two crash types. Weekdays, two-lane segments, undivided road segments, non-interstate roadways, and intersections were found to only affect the severity of aggressive-driving CMV-related crashes. Interestingly, lane widths ≤ 11 feet increased the severe aggressive-driving CMV crash risk, but reduced the severe distracted-driving crash risk.

[Access the Conference Proceedings Paper on ASCE Library](https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784483534.024) 

Comparative Analysis of Aggressive-Driving and Distracted-Driving Crashes Involving Commercial Motor Vehicles in Kentucky

ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD 2021) is organized by the Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI) of ASCE to facilitate the exchange of information, knowledge, and best practices among transportation and development practitioners and researchers, public infrastructure owners, policymakers, government engineers and planners, operations managers, and leading academics from around the world.

Paper Proceedings: https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483534 | https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483541

Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.26226/m.631784867747920012e73503