Descriptive Analysis and Characterization of Secondary Traffic Crashes in Florida

The safe and efficient operation of transportation facilities requires detecting and clearing roadway incidents through traffic incident management. Incident-related disruptions to traffic sometimes result in secondary crashes. Agreement on a uniform definition for secondary crashes has been difficult, but a conservative approach would describe secondary crashes are those occurring in a crash scene or within the queue, including the opposite direction, resulting from an original crash. This research breaks new ground by collecting information about secondary crashes at the scene by officers reporting traffic crashes. This research evaluated 676 known secondary traffic crashes to describe them statistically and also compare them with the larger statewide data set. Secondary crashes are more likely to occur in urban areas and on freeways. Cloudy or rainy conditions are environmental factors that affect the roadway surface and weather is twice as likely to be a factor in the secondary crash. Wet roads contribute at a rate of more than double the average crash. Hills are represented at a higher rate than statewide data, somewhat ironic given the relative flat topography of Florida. Uphill and downhill grades combine to be a factor twice as often. The time associated with the morning commute is represented slightly higher, as are times of darkness. Compared to all crashes, more secondary crashes occur “on the roadway” and three or more vehicles, including commercial vehicles, are represented at a higher rate. With a better understanding about the nature and causes of secondary crashes, incident responders might implement scene practices to minimize their occurrence.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB40 Traffic Law Enforcement.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Carrick, Grady
  • Srinivasan, Sivaramakrishnan
  • Bejleri, Ilir
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2015-1-11 to 2015-1-15
• Date: 2015

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 12p
• Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash characteristics; Hills; Secondary crashes; Time of crashes; Traffic incidents; Urban areas; Weather conditions
• Geographic Terms: Florida
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01550124
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 15-0096
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 16 2015 8:29AM