00815920

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1746-08

http://scholar.google.com...ttak&publication_year=2001

Rear-end crashes constitute a substantial portion of the total crashes in the United States. They are also amenable to reduction through emerging intelligent transportation systems technologies such as crash warning systems. A specific objective was to analyze the effect of information and vehicle technology on injury severity in rear-end crashes, while controlling for the effects of driver, vehicle, and roadway factors. The study is based on real-life data from the Highway Safety Information System for North Carolina access-controlled roadways. The results show that in two-vehicle crashes the leading driver is more severely injured, whereas in three-vehicle crashes the driver in the middle is more severely injured. To analyze injury severity on the KABCO scale, three separate ordered probit models were estimated for Drivers 1 (leading), 2 (striking), and 3 (striking, in a three-vehicle crash). A vehicle age variable was used in the model specification to capture the effect of vehicle age and to serve as a proxy for safety improvements, in particular the center high-mounted stoplight (CHMSL). The modeling results show that being in a newer vehicle protects the driver in rear-end collisions. Similarly, being in a newer vehicle protects Driver 2. Interestingly, striking a newer Vehicle 1 can reduce the chance of both Driver 2 and Driver 3 injuries, partly as a result of CHMSL on Vehicle 1. Also examined is whether drivers of vans, pickup trucks, and station wagon cars/trucks sustain less-severe injuries because of their larger vehicle mass or more-severe injuries because of their information-blocking effect. The results show that technological improvements have a quantifiable beneficial effect on safety.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1746, Highway Safety: Modeling, Analysis, Management, Statistical Methods, and Crash Location.

English

p. 59-68

2001

Transportation Research Record

0309072042

References (9) ; Tables (6)

High mounted brake lamps; Highway safety; Injury severity; Multiple vehicle crashes; Pickup trucks; Probits; Rear end crashes; Station wagons; Technological innovations; Vans; Vehicle safety; Vehicle size

Highway Safety Information System

Vehicle age

North Carolina

Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I84: Personal Injuries

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Aug 29 2001 12:00AM

• AUTOMATED ACCIDENT DETECTION SYSTEM
• BAYESIAN IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH-RISK INTERSECTIONS FOR OLDER DRIVERS VIA GIBBS SAMPLING
• COMPUTING AND INTERPRETING ACCIDENT RATES FOR VEHICLE TYPES OR DRIVER GROUPS
• DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK MODELS TO PREDICT DRIVER INJURY SEVERITY IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS
• EVALUATION OF INEXPENSIVE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM UNITS TO IMPROVE CRASH LOCATION DATA
• GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM-BASED ACCIDENT DATA MANAGEMENT FOR MEXICAN FEDERAL ROADS
• INCORPORATING CRASH RISK IN SELECTING CONGESTION-MITIGATION STRATEGIES: HAMPTON ROADS AREA (VIRGINIA) CASE STUDY
• INTERSTATE HIGHWAY CRASH INJURIES DURING WINTER SNOW AND NONSNOW EVENTS
• LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF FATAL RUN-OFF-ROAD CRASHES, 1975 TO 1997
• SENSOR-FRIENDLY VEHICLE AND ROADWAY COOPERATIVE SAFETY SYSTEMS: BENEFITS ESTIMATION
• SIMULATION OF ROAD CRASHES BY USE OF SYSTEMS DYNAMICS
• TRANSFERABILITY OF MODELS THAT ESTIMATE CRASHES AS A FUNCTION OF ACCESS MANAGEMENT