Whereas there is a significant body of research that addresses the features of car crashes in Iraqi governorates and cities, the research related to large truck crashes is relatively limited. The Iraqi national statistics revealed a steady increase in the number of trucks and truck-related crashes over the past decade. This paper, therefore, aims to investigate the characteristics, patterns, and risk factors of large trucks crashes in Al-Najaf governorate. The crash data were collected by conducting a questionnaire survey whereby 400 truck drivers were randomly recruited and interviewed. Several descriptive analyses have been carried out using IBM SPSS (v.26) software. The analysis results revealed several recognizable characteristics for truck drivers and truck accidents. Truck crashes over Al-Najaf street network mainly occurred on weekdays and at peak periods. About 12.5% happened over U-Turns and 14% hitting a vulnerable road user. About 57% of truck crashes were with at least one injured person and 14.5% were fatal. The key contributing factors for crashes are excessive truck speed, accidental truck faults, truck driver fatigue, inattentive driving, and bad weather. The obtained findings should be useful and informative for official firms interested in promoting safety strategy for sustainable freight truck transport.

Topics
Land transportation, Interviews
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