The Department of Transportation has given the University of Alabama at Birmingham a $275,000 grant to study ways to prevent serious commercial truck crashes.
"The safety of all Americans on our roadways is the priority of this study," Fouad Fouad, the study's principal investigator and chairman of the university's department of civil and environmental engineering, said in a prepared statement.
The research will focus on the following areas:
- David Schwebel, assistant professor of psychology, will study risk-taking behavior among commercial motor vehicle drivers.
- Virginia Sisiopiku, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, will examine using advanced technology to enhance commercial motor vehicle safety.
- Robert Peters, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, will look at compartmentalized tanker truck safety design.
- Nassim Uddin, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, will research possible enhancements to commercial vehicles that could provide increased driver protection.
