00815925

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1746-13

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

The state of Alabama stores and manages detailed information about vehicle crashes including their approximate locations. Currently, crash locations are estimated and hand recorded by highway patrol officers at the scene of a crash. These locations are typically placed at identifiable points along the roadway, such as mileposts and intersections. The resulting resolution can place vehicle crashes caused by the same roadway variable as far apart as 2 km, making accurate identification of roadway safety hazards difficult. The research project was initiated through the University Transportation Center for Alabama to improve vehicle crash analysis through accurate and inexpensive collection and display of crash locations. The research employed Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies. GPS units ranging in price from $130 to $3,400 were evaluated on the basis of cost, accuracy, usability, additional equipment needed, and time required to collect a location. From this analysis two GPS units were selected: (a) a handheld unit, the Garmin GPS 12 Map, and (b) a computer-based unit, the Rand McNally StreetFinder Deluxe. With the recent removal of selective availability, the research has shown that inexpensive GPS units tested are capable of locating a vehicle crash within an 8-m radius. In addition, both an off-the-shelf GIS and accurate basemaps were employed to display the new GPS crash data. By analyzing GPS locations in a GIS, "hot spots" where multiple crashes occurred were identified through buffering operations. An analysis of actual crash location data showed that GPS data provided more information about a crash than conventional methods, specifically at interchanges and along roadway segments.

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

English

p. 94-101

2001

Transportation Research Record

0309072042

Figures (8) ; References (5) ; Tables (2)

Accuracy; Costs; Crash locations; Evaluation and assessment; Geographic information systems; Global Positioning System; High risk locations

Alabama

Finance; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Aug 30 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
• 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
• INJURY SEVERITY IN MULTIVEHICLE REAR-END CRASHES
• 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