01697712

Component

Previous findings suggest teens are three to four times as likely to be involved in a crash than other age groups. Furthermore, the presence of peer passenger(s), time of day, age of driver, inexperience can significantly impact crash risks among teen drivers. While a majority of studies have examined differences in driver’s performance, errors and psychological factors, this study seeks to better understand whether certain road infrastructure factors are associated with a higher risk of fatal crash involvement among teen drivers and how the effects of such factors differ after adjusting for non-engineering factors. This study used data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimate System for years 2014 to 2015. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were implemented to examine odds ratios of the following factors on the risk of fatal crash involvement among teen drivers: road infrastructure (curve present, work zone present, type of traffic way, traffic control type, segment with a posted speed limit >55 MPH present), driver characteristics (sex, age, presence and age of passenger), temporal variables, model year of vehicle, and collision type. Furthermore, the probability of a fatal crash involvement was examined on different levels for each factor. Similar to previous studies, the adjusted model found the presence of peer passenger(s), male teen drivers, driving at night (especially 3am – 6am), older vehicle model year, and summer season are each associated with an increase in fatal crash involvement risk among teen drivers. Likewise, head-on-collisions and road departures significantly increase the risk of fatal crash involvement. Segments with curves and posted high speed limits were highly associated with fatal crash involvements among teen drivers. Teen drivers were more likely to be involved in a fatal crash while traveling along two-way roads without median lines (OR=2.81; 95% CI=1.54, 5.16) or barriers (OR=2.60; 95% CI=1.65, 4.09) than traveling on divided roads with median barriers. Traffic signals were highly likely to reduce the risk of fatal crash involvement among teen drivers, compared to traveling intersections with regulatory signs (stop/yield signs) (OR=4.37; 95% CI=3.50, 5.46), warning signs (OR=1.82; 95% CI=0.85, 3.92), or no traffic control (OR=4.41; 95% CI=3.72, 5.22). Overall, this study demonstrates some road infrastructure factors are associated with higher degrees of fatal crash involvement risks for teen drivers than non-engineering factors examined in this study. Past and current driver education, graduated driver licensure programs, and literature have focused on addressing teen’s driving skills/errors (distraction/inattention, speeding, fatigue, alcohol/drug use, etc.) and environmental factors (season and night driving). However, this study suggests appropriate education and safety awareness campaigns related to road design characteristics to inform on the role, implication, safety benefit and limitation of specific road design components to teen drivers may be needed. Additionally, more studies are needed to understand how road design factors influence crash risks among teen drivers and what countermeasures should be developed to mitigate relevant issues.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB30 Standing Committee on Operator Education and Regulation.

19-04148

English

5p

2019

Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References (5)

Crash causes; Fatalities; Highway design; Infrastructure; Speed; Teenage drivers

Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2019 Paper #19-04148

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 7 2018 9:35AM