Risk factors for roadway single- and multi-vehicle all-terrain vehicle crashes in Pennsylvania: 2010–2013

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

All Terrain Vehicles on public roadways become major risk factors for the motorists.

OBJECTIVE:

To compare characteristics of crashes and injury severity related to single vehicle (SV) and multi-vehicle (MV) All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) roadway crashes in Pennsylvania, USA.

METHODS:

Data on ATV crashes occurring on public roads during the years 2010–2013 was obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and analyzed.

RESULTS:

Almost two-thirds of the incidents were single-vehicle incidents. Single-ATV incidents have a greater risk for incapacitating injury to drivers than do multi-vehicle ATV incidents. Other factors that increase risk for incapacitating injury in SV crashes include being male, being a driver, alcohol/drug involvement, hitting a fixed object, and the incidents in non-daylight hours. For MV ATV incidents, head on and rear-end crashes and drivers who had alcohol/drug involvement were the two major incapacitating injury risk factors.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study has enabled us to better understand roadway ATV incidents, characteristics of SV and MV ATV crashes, and the incapacitating injury risks in both SV and MV crash incidents. Our study suggests that road safety and public health programs should focus on the users’ knowledge on laws regarding ATV usage on public roadways.