Driving Behaviors

Title: Use of telematics data to identify driving behaviors associated with emergency service vehicle crashes

 

Background: Emergency service vehicle incidents are a leading cause of firefighter fatalities and are also hazardous to civilian road users. Modifiable driving behaviors may be associated with emergency service vehicle incidents. The goal of this study was to use telematics to identify driving behaviors associated with crashes in the fire service.

 

Methods: Forty-three emergency service vehicles in two fire departments were equipped with telematics devices (12 in Department A and 31 in Department B). The devices collected vehicle coordinates, speed, and g-forces which were monitored for exceptions to driving rules established by the fire departments regarding speeding, harsh braking, and hard cornering. Fire department administrative reports were used to identify vehicles involved in crashes and merged with daily telematics data. Penalized logistic regression was used to identify driving rules associated with crashes. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to generate a telematics-based risk index for emergency service vehicle incidents.

 

Results: Nearly 1.1 million kilometers of driving data and 44 crashes were recorded among the two departments during the study. For both departments, harsh braking (Odds Ratio (OR)Dep A = 2.22; ORDepB = 1.55) and non-emergency speeding (ORDepA = 1.35; ORDepB = 2.09) were associated with increased odds of crash (P<0.05).  In Department B, hard cornering and emergency speeding 15mph over the posted speed limit were also associated with increased odds of crash. Final LASSO risk index model had a sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 57% (Table 1). 

 

Conclusions: Harsh braking and excessive speeding were driving behaviors most associated with crash in the fire service. The telematics-based risk index showed moderately good sensitivity for predicting emergency services vehicle incidents.

 

Highlights: 

  • Emergency vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among firefighters.
  • Telematics was used to study risky driving behaviors in two fire departments.
  • Harsh braking and speeding increased emergency vehicle crash risk by two-fold.
  • A telematics-based driver risk index had sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 57%.

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