Issues with Using Police Citations to Assign Responsibility in Quasi-induced Exposure

Crash fault determination is one of the most critical issues in applications of quasi-induced exposure. Traditionally, the driver citation issued by the investigating police officer is the primary source to assign responsibility for motor vehicle crashes. Such citations are based on the “evidence” or observation of a moving violation (such as engaged hazardous actions) in combination with non-moving violations (such as suspended driver license) prior to the crash. The objective here is to identify the contributing factors that may lead to driver citations in two-vehicle crashes in addition to the hazardous action. Multivariate binary logistic regression modeling is employed to explore the behavior of the investigating police officer in terms of issuing citation at the crash scene. A series of explanatory parameters including roadway characteristics, environmental factors, and driver and vehicle attributes is assessed. The results show that whether the crash type was a hit-and-run, alcohol and illegal drug use, driver gender, driver age, and injury severity all appear to have significant impacts on the investigating officer’s decision-making. Specific examples are given to demonstrate how two factors hit-and-run and drinking status can skew the exposure estimates in the context of quasi-induced exposure. The findings will help to serve as a basis to select appropriate parameters in assigning crash responsibility in quasi-induced exposure applications; and we make recommendations to modify existing crash database for better safety research in the future.

• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753511002955
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09257535
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier. From a special issue: First International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering 2011
• Authors:
  • Jiang, Xinguo
  • Qiu, Yanjun
  • Lyles, Richard W
  • Zhang, Hongchao
• Publication Date: 2012-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1133-1140
• Serial:
  • Safety Science
  • Volume: 50
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0925-7535
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09257535

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age groups; Crash causes; Crash types; Drunk driving; Gender; Logistic regression analysis; Moving violations; Multiple vehicle crashes; Police; Police reports; Traffic citations; Traffic law enforcement
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01365534
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 20 2012 12:18PM