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This study aimed to identify and investigate the contributing factors influencing injury severity in single-vehicle run-off-road (ROR) crashes, which are known for their high severity. The primary objective was to analyze and compare the impact of these factors across three distinct vehicle classes: passenger cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and pickups. A mixed logit model with heterogeneity in mean and variance was developed to analyze the injury severity outcomes in ROR crashes for the three vehicle classes. The model accounted for the potential variations in the impact of contributing factors across different vehicle types. The study revealed several significant variables consistently influencing injury severity across all three vehicle classes. These included driver age, alcohol or drug usage, seatbelt utilization, airbag deployment, higher travel speeds, and the vehicle model year post-2010. Notably, as driver age increased, the impact on changes in injury severity outcomes was more pronounced for pickup drivers compared to those operating passenger cars and SUVs. Among the common findings was the highly effective role of seatbelt usage in mitigating injury severity in ROR crashes. Additionally, passenger cars were associated with increased injury severity, particularly at relatively higher travel speeds exceeding 75 mph when contrasted with SUVs and pickups traveling between 61 and 75 mph. The study highlights the importance of considering vehicle class-specific factors in analyzing injury severity in ROR crashes. Recommendations include further in-depth investigations into distinct factors contributing to injury severity within each vehicle class and utilizing more extensive crash datasets to gain additional insights for enhancing road safety., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Our study investigated risk factors in survival among a subpopulation of drivers in North Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety Program. Participants mandated for a second driving-under-the-influence of alcohol (DUI) arrest were studied for a three-year interval that commenced with the start date for a 360-day enrollment., Method: A Stratified Cox regression model was developed to compute the hazard ratios for survival. A subsequent DUI-related offense as event of interest. Relation to the explanatory variable array that could be construed from administrative records were investigated., Results: Older drivers were 6.31 times more likely to reoffend than the younger driver cohort of 18-35-years. The survival curve slope showed the fastest decline in the 361-day to 730-day interval. Neither gender nor residence region was a significant predictor in DUI reoffense over the three-year monitoring interval. Preliminary work suggests reoffense was more likely if an individual had program history prior to this court mandated 360-day term in the 24/7 Sobriety Program for a second DUI. The program experience finding was unexpected but could not be studied in greater detail due to data and resource limitations., Conclusions: Administrative records access created a novel opportunity to explore an evolving impaired driving prevention strategy that has shown early promise. Individual driver survival in and after the 24/7 Sobriety Program was studied for three-years. Findings show age, post-program time interval, and possibly program history as areas to explore to improve survival rates. Driver DUI offense were most common shortly after program completion. Although limited to a single state, findings increase knowledge for refining strategies designed to impact driver subpopulations at higher risk for reoffense., (Copyright © 2021 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study investigated the confounding effects of factors on injury outcomes for all occupants in fatal single-vehicle crashes that involved a rollover event. Method: A generalized ordered logit model was used to investigate the role of roadway attributes, environmental factors, driver characteristics, and vehicle features in injury severity outcomes for occupants. Five years of single-vehicle rollover crash data for the United States were studied. Results: Results showed that the likelihood of serious and fatal injuries increases in rollover crashes with partial or complete ejection of the occupant, no seat belt use, speeding, higher posted speed limits, roadside and median rollovers, undulating terrain, blacktop road surface, and rural roads. We also found that evening, weekdays, previous driver crash, careless or inattentive driving, driver-passenger engagement, aggressive driving, and vehicle type affect injury severity. The deployment of airbags was associated with fewer serious and fatal injuries. Regional differences were found for injury severity outcomes in rollover crashes. Conclusions: The study provides valuable insight for reducing injury severity in single-vehicle crashes where a rollover occurs. Several proven countermeasures may prevent rollovers or reduce injury severity. These strategies include increasing seatbelt use, posting lower speed limits and installing speed enforcement cameras in high-risk areas, flattening roadside embankments, and promoting in-vehicle stability enhancement systems such as electronic stability control and rollover-activated side curtain airbags.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for youth. Appropriate occupant protection significantly reduces these preventable injuries. Secondary field observation survey records were studied to identify populations that would most likely benefit from youth occupant protection programs. Multivariate regression analysis showed that drivers of youth between 4 and 14 years were in need of programs promoting youth and driver occupant restraint use. When these drivers were using seat belts, it was 35 times more likely they had youth occupants in safety restraints. A focus on pickup truck drivers may also give these programs greater efficacy in increasing youth restraint use. This study was limited to a single state, but the approach should be transferable to other jurisdictions where youth occupant protection field observation studies are conducted.

For North Dakota teens, three of every four deaths are from motor vehicle crashes. Injury crash records for teen drivers were studied to gain insight regarding driver, vehicle, and road factors for public safety policy and program discussions. Results show 14-year-old drivers are three times more likely to die or be disabled in an injury crash than 17-year-old drivers, and that male drivers are 30% less likely to incur severe injury. As expected, seat belt use is a critical factor in severe injury avoidance. The likelihood for death or disablement is 165% greater for unbelted teen drivers than for those who are properly belted. In addition, rural and gravel roads pose a risk. Teens are six times more likely to be severely injured in crashes on rural roads than on urban roads. Findings suggest that an increased licensing age and seat belt emphasis may reduce teen traffic injuries in the state. In addition, more information on exposure should be attained to better understand rural and gravel road as risks.

Objective: The North Dakota Legislature recently passed a law exempting the state's agricultural truck fleet from a federal safety program requirement for rear-guard equipment on large trucks. This equipment has been shown to reduce crash severity when a passenger vehicle collides with the rear of the truck. This study uses truck fleet, truck crash, and injury severity data to estimate the public safety benefit derived from passenger-vehicle underride protection during rear-end crashes involving large agricultural trucks in North Dakota., Methods: A benefit-cost analysis of crash injury avoidance is developed based on the frequency and severity of rear-end truck collisions in North Dakota between 2001 and 2007., Results: The injury avoidance benefits and commercial vehicle safety grant benefits are estimated to be $11.4 to $20.2 million during the seven-year depreciable truck life., Conclusion: The public safety benefits for rear-impact guards are higher than the estimated lifetime cost for the equipment and maintenance of $8.1 million.