Vehicle dynamics are an important consideration for highway design and construction. Large trucks are a common design vehicle for highway infrastructure. A variety of factors focused on large truck characteristics include: turning radius at intersections/driveways, lane widths, acceleration on upgrades, control of speed on downgrades, and more.
Due to the high center of gravity (which can be exacerbated by unevenly distributed loads) of tractor-trailers, they are more prone to roll-over crashes than other vehicle types. Almost half of the fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2019 resulted from roll-overs. A recent Freight Waves article listed the five most likely roadways to lead to roll-over crashes and include:
I-64/I-77, Giles to Dawes, West Virginia
I-85 at I-285, northeastern Atlanta
I-40 at I-65, western Nashville
I-64, Nuckolls to Whittaker, West Virginia
I-75 at I-285, northwestern Atlanta
– Daniel Findley, DTC Engineering Economics Instructor
