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crashes and injury severity (Cerwick et al., 2014; Khorashadi et al., 2005; Ouyang et al.,

2002). Therefore, the trucking industry and government should consider developing policies
and providing incentives for owners to replace the fleet more regularly.

As expected, occupants in vehicles that caught fire are more likely to suffer severe injury than

occupants in vehicles that do not catch fire. Fire incidents might arise due to fuel leaks, which
might be more likely with older vehicles with poor maintenance (Burn et al., 2012). The

trucking industry should consider fire training and installing fire-extinguishing equipment in

all vehicles to reduce injury severity related fires.

With regard to the impact point on the vehicle, the right front door impact point is

significantly associated with severe injury outcome. This result was expected, because drivers
in Australia are seated in the right front seat. Furthermore, as expected, vehicle occupants are

more likely to experience severe injury in vehicles that suffer major damage (vehicle towed)
and extensive damage (unrepairable) compared to vehicles that suffer only minor damage.

Likewise, relative to going straight prior to crashes, left-turning vehicle movement is
associated with less severe injury. This result was expected, as vehicles are driven on the left

side of the road in Australia and left-turn movement usually results in less severe angle

crashes compared to right-turn movement.

As expected, motorcycle riders and their pillion passengers are more likely to experience
severe injury due to minimal protection against injury in the event of a collision (Rifaat et al.,

2012; Rahman et al., 2011). This outcome may also be due to their smaller size and the
difficulty heavy vehicle drivers may have in noticing this type of vehicle in traffic compared

to a passenger car. On the other hand, heavy vehicle occupants are more likely to suffer only

minor injury due to the bigger size and mass and better protection of their vehicles (Lemp et
al., 2011).

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