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Chapter 3 Differences in single heavy-vehicle crashes at intersections and mid-block

3.1 Introduction

In Australia, heavy vehicles contribute significantly to the national economy because they are

the major means for transporting goods within the country. The average annual growth rate
for road freight in the City of Melbourne was estimated to be 4.9 per cent between 1985 and

2003, and it is estimated to grow from 10.3 billion tonne-kilometres in 2003 to 16.9 billion

tonne-kilometres in 2020 (BTRE, 2007). Since a large part of the growth in freight transport
is occurring within urban regions (BTRE, 2007; Moridpour et al., 2010; Moridpour et al.,

2011; Sarvi, 2013), there is growing concern about its potential negative social impacts,

including an increase in traffic collisions involving trucks and other heavy vehicles in
metropolitan areas.

Although heavy vehicles comprise only 3% of the total number of registered vehicles and 8%

of the vehicle-kilometres travelled, this vehicle type is involved in 18% of all road fatalities
in Australia (ATC, 2011). Moreover, the probability of collisions increases by 5% when the

percentage of heavy vehicles is more than 30% of the total traffic volume (Moridpour et al.,

2015). In addition, owing to their larger size and mass, heavy vehicle collisions often result in
more severe injuries. The number of fatal injuries resulting from heavy rigid truck crashes

increased by 8.5% each year between March 2012 and March 2014 in Australia (BITRE,
2014).

The objective of this research is to identify the factors differentiating between single vehicle

crashes involving heavy vehicles at intersections and mid-blocks. Specifically, single-vehicle

collisions at intersections and mid-blocks in the Melbourne metropolitan area are analysed
using the binary logit model. This study contributes to the advancement of knowledge in this

field because little or no research has been done on single-vehicle collisions involving heavy

vehicles at intersections and mid-blocks. Part of this study was published in the Journal of
Advanced Transportation in a paper entitled ‘Differences in single heavy vehicle crashes at

intersections and mid-blocks’.

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