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Roadside Assistance Providers Fatally Struck by Vehicles at the Roadside
Roadside assistance providers such as motor vehicle towing personnel, mobile mechanics, and safety service patrollers often work on or alongside highways to help motorists stranded due to vehicle breakdowns or crashes. This places them at risk of being struck by passing vehicles. Research is needed to understand the circumstances of crashes in which roadside assistance providers are struck by passing vehicles, to inform and prioritize efforts to protect them. However, the data sources most commonly used for traffic safety research do not reliably identify crash victims as roadside assistance providers, which has hindered previous research efforts. Thus, this study used data from industry sources to identify roadside assistance providers who were struck and killed by vehicles while working, and then linked them to a national database of fatal crashes, to gain an understanding of the circumstances of these crashes and issue recommendations for efforts to protect roadside assistance providers.
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