Comparative Analysis of Hot-Spot Identification Methods in the Presence of Limited Information

India has the second largest road network in the world. Expansion of road network with simultaneous increase in vehicle ownership in the last decade resulted in increased exposure to road transport, and an increased number of road traffic accidents. Road safety is thus becoming one of the most challenging issues demanding utmost priority in India. Identification and treatment of unsafe locations (black or hot spots) is the first major step in safety assessment. Many effective Hot Spot identification (HSID) methods are available in literature. However, the more scientific ones like Empirical Bayes (EB) or Safety Performance Functions (SPF), require data such as traffic volume, geometric design details and regulatory information which is rarely available in India. Accident data, with details of number of crashes and nature and number of casualties are only available in most cases. Hence, methods of HSID with Crash frequency (CF), Fatal Crash frequency (FCF), and Equivalent Property Damage Only (EPDO) as well as both crash frequency and severities available from existing literature are considered. In addition, a new metric “Index of frequency severity (IFS)” has been proposed by the authors. These four methods are tested with data from NH6 in Howrah district of India with Site consistency, Method consistency and Total rank difference tests. Even though the Crash frequency method seems to outperform other methods, when both frequency and severity are considered the new metric proved to be a better predictor of unsafe locations.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conferences/2011/RSS/2/Bandyopadhyaya,R.pdf
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  Transportation Research Board

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• Authors:
  • Bandyopadhyaya, Ranja
  • Mitra, Sudeshna
• Conference:
  • 3rd International Conference on Road Safety and Simulation
  • Location: Indianapolis Indiana, United States
  • Date: 2011-9-14 to 2011-9-16
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: 3rd International Conference on Road Safety and Simulation

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Crash data; Crash rates; Geometric design; High risk locations; Highway safety; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Equivalent property damage only
• Geographic Terms: India
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01504548
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 24 2014 2:29PM