Citation

Görücü S, Murphy DJ, Kassab C. Traffic Injury Prev. 2017; 18(3): 286-292.

Affiliation

By The Numbers 530 Hartman Road, West Decatur , PA 16878 , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15389588.2016.1198009

PMID

27327076

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics associated with farm equipment and horse and buggy roadway crashes in relation to person, incident, and injury characteristics to identify appropriate points for injury incident prevention.

METHODS: Information on crashes occurring on public roads during the years 2010-2013 was obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and analyzed.

RESULTS: There were 344 farm equipment and 246 horse and buggy crashes during the 4-year study period. These crashes involved 666 and 504 vehicles, and 780 and 838 people, respectively. In incidents with farm equipment, the non-farm equipment drivers had almost a two times greater injury risk than farm equipment operators. Horse and buggy crashes were almost three times more injurious to the horse and buggy drivers than the drivers of the other vehicles.

CONCLUSIONS: The average crash rate for farm equipment was 198.4 crashes per 100,000 farm population and for horse and buggy the crash rate was calculated as 89.4 crashes per 100,000 Amish population per year. This study suggests that road safety and public health programs should focus not only on farm equipment operators and horse and buggy drivers but also for the other motorists sharing the roadway with them.

Language: en