Uncertainty Analysis of Accident Notification Time and Emergency Medical Service Response Time in Work Zone Traffic Accidents

This article presents an uncertainty analysis of accident notification time and emergency medical service response time in work zone traffic accidents. After taking into account the uncertainty caused by exogenous factors, the authors modeled the accident notification time (ANT) and emergency medical service (EMS) response time as 2 random variables following the lognormal distribution. Their mean values and standard deviations were respectively formulated as the functions of environmental variables including crash time, road type, weekend, holiday, light condition, weather, and work zone type. Work zone traffic accident data from the Fatality Analysis Report System between 2002 and 2009 were utilized to determine the distributions of the ANT and the EMS arrival time in the United States. A mixed logistic regression model, taking into account the uncertainty associated with the ANT and the EMS response time, was developed to estimate the risk of death. The results showed that the uncertainty of the ANT was primarily influenced by crash time and road type, whereas the uncertainty of EMS response time is greatly affected by road type, weather, and light conditions. In addition, work zone accidents occurring during a holiday and in poor light conditions were found to be statistically associated with a longer mean ANT and longer EMS response time. The results also show that shortening the ANT was a more effective approach in reducing the risk of death than the EMS response time in work zones. The authors conclude that, to shorten the ANT and the EMS response time, work zone activities should be undertaken during non-holidays, during the daytime, and in good weather and light conditions.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2012.708886
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/49192340
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Taylor & Francis.
• Authors:
  • Meng, Qiang
  • Weng, Jinxian
• Publication Date: 2013-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 150-158
• Serial:
  • Traffic Injury Prevention
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 1538-9588
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/15389588.html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash data; Crash injuries; Crashes; Emergency medical services; Emergency response time; Highway safety; Injury severity; Periods of the day; Risk assessment; Weather; Work zone safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01483880
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 14 2013 9:34AM