Investigating the Incidence and Circumstances of Roadside Response Personnel Injuries and Deaths

Introduction

Roadside response personnel are at risk of being struck by passing vehicles while they work on the side of the road. Understanding the incidence and circumstances of roadside responder injuries and deaths is critical in advocating for their safety as well as developing and prioritizing safety measures to protect them. Limitations of existing data systems, however, complicate efforts to study this vulnerable population. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is working to compile the best available data to inform efforts to protect roadside responders, with a focus on motor vehicle towing and roadside service personnel.

Project Goal and Plan

The goal of this project is to synthesize data from a variety of existing sources regarding the incidence as well as the circumstances of crashes in which roadside responders are struck and injured or killed while working on the side of the road. This project consists of two main phases:

Phase 1. Multiple sources of data about roadside responder deaths will be reviewed and synthesized to quantify the annual number of roadside responders fatally struck by passing vehicles while working on the side of the road each year. The data will also be used to describe key characteristics of these fatal incidents pertinent to countermeasures.

Phase 2. The research team will examine a variety of potential sources of data on nonfatal injuries to roadside responders to determine whether the data can be used to estimate the incidence of roadside responder injuries. The research will document findings regarding the data identified, and if applicable, the incidence of roadside responder injuries as estimated from these data.