Examining traffic crash injury severity at unsignalized intersections

    Authors

    K. Haleem;M. Abdel-Aty

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Saf. Res.

    Keywords

    Ordered probit; Binary probit; Nested logit; 3-Legged unsignalized; intersection; 4-Legged unsignalized intersection; Injury severity; Crash; severity; ORDERED PROBIT MODELS; ACCIDENT SEVERITY; VEHICLE CRASHES; SINGLE-VEHICLE; DRIVER; TRUCK; Ergonomics; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social; Sciences, Interdisciplinary; Transportation

    Abstract

    Introduction: This study presents multiple approaches to the analysis of crash injury severity at three- and four-legged unsignalized intersections in the state of Florida from 2003 until 2006. An extensive data collection process was conducted for this study. Method: The dataset used in the analysis included 2,043 unsignalized intersections in six counties in the state of Florida. For the scope of this study, there were three approaches explored. The first approach dealt with the five injury levels, and an ordered probit model was fitted. The second approach was an aggregated one, and dealt with only the severe versus non-severe crash levels, and a binary probit model was used. The third approach dealt with fitting a nested logit model. Results from the three fitted approaches were shown and discussed, and a comparison between the three approaches was shown. Results: Several important factors affecting crash severity at unsignalized intersections were identified. These include the traffic volume on the major approach, and the number of through lanes on the minor approach (surrogate measure for traffic volume), and among the geometric factors, the upstream and downstream distance to the nearest signalized intersection, left and right shoulder width, number of left turn movements on the minor approach, and number of right and left turn lanes on the major approach. As for driver factors, young and very young at-fault drivers were associated with the least fatal probability compared to other age groups. Impact on industry: The analysis identified some countermeasures to reduce injury severity at unsignalized intersections. The spatial covariates showed the importance of including safety awareness campaigns for speeding enforcement. Also, having a 90-degree intersection design is the most appropriate safety design for reducing severity. Moreover, the assurance of marking stop lines at unsignalized intersections is very essential. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Safety Research

    Volume

    41

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2010

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    347

    Last Page

    357

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000282998900006

    ISSN

    0022-4375

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