01596042

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2516-08

Over the past several decades, the number of fatal crashes in the United States has steadily declined. This decline is the result, at least in part, of the combined efforts of the three E’s: engineering, education, and enforcement. Although these overall trends have shown promising results, there remain specific groups with alarming fatal crash rates. One of these groups, in particular, is law enforcement officers. Because police officers are a unique group with very particular job requirements, these crashes must be evaluated separately from crashes involving the general population. This study investigated 3 years of police-related fatal crash data to determine what contributing circumstances needed to be further investigated to reduce the trend in crashes. Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System were used to develop a logistic regression model to determine the statistically significant factors in 220 fatal crashes involving law enforcement officers from 2010 through 2012. It was found that a crash was less likely to be fatal if the officer was wearing a seat belt and if there was more than one occupant in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Conversely, the law enforcement officer was more likely to be the fatality when the crash was speed-related.

01596041

15-3221

English

pp 53–57

2015

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309369404

Print

References (17) ; Tables (4)

Crash characteristics; Fatalities; Law enforcement personnel; Statistical analysis

Highways; Safety and Human Factors

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 1:05PM

• Accuracy of Injury Severity Ratings on Police Crash Reports
• Before-and-After Empirical Bayes Evaluation of Automated Mobile Speed Enforcement on Urban Arterial Roads
• Behind the Wheel: Confidence and Naturalistic Measures of Driving Exposure Among Older Drivers
• Drug Use and Involvement in a Safety-Critical Event: Pilot Study Using Naturalistic Truck Data
• Emergency Braking in Adults Versus Novice Teen Drivers: Response to Simulated Sudden Driving Events
• Evaluation of a Risk Awareness Perception Training Program on Novice Teen Driver Behavior at Left-Turn Intersections
• Older Adults as Cutaway Bus Passengers: User-Centered Literature Review
• Potential of Group Incentive Schemes to Encourage Use of Driving Safety Apps
• Teen Drivers’ Perceptions of Their Peer Passengers: Qualitative Study
• Value of Confirmation Lights and Their Unintended Impact on Driver Compliance and Deterrence to Running a Red Light