A Multidimensional Clustering Algorithm for Studying Fatal Road Crashes
Road fatalities are rare outcomes of events that occur in a small time-space region. Although the exact chain of events for each fatality is unique, there are inherent similarities between road fatalities. The science of road safety is dedicated to identifying such similarities, mainly using statistical analysis tools. Researchers typically analyze patterns that emerge over space, such as hot-spot studies, or patterns that emerge over time, such as before-after studies. Traffic research enumerates 84 parameters that characterize a road fatality. A vast number of papers have tried to find the correlation between one or two parameters. In those studies quite often the contribution of other factors is omitted. In this research the authors utilize a clustering graph theoretic method, known as graph-cuts, for segmenting a very large crash dataset (i.e., all fatal car crashes in the last 2, 5, or 10 years), while incorporating all available crash information into the process. The analysis of the clusters allows one to find subtle trends and significant causes for traffic fatalities. With this method, for example, the authors have found high correlation between hit-and-run and pedestrians fatalities, which was overlooked by previous studies. An additional output of the research is a full description of the typical fatality, thus all factors that characterized the representative crash in a cluster.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/37387952
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Authors:
- Fishbain, Barak
- Grembek, Offer
- Publication Date: 2014
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 79-100
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Serial:
- Journal of Transportation and Statistics
- Volume: 10
- Issue Number: 1
- Publisher: Research and Innovative Technology Administration
- ISSN: 1094-8848
- Serial URL: http://www.bts.gov/publications/journal_of_transportation_and_statistics/
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Cluster analysis; Crash analysis; Crash characteristics; Crash types; Fatalities; Highway safety; Pedestrian vehicle crashes
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01553171
- Record Type: Publication
- ISBN: 1094-8848
- Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: Feb 13 2015 9:15AM