Heat waves and fatal traffic crashes in the continental United States

A better understanding of how heat waves affect fatal traffic crashes will be useful to promote awareness of drivers’ vulnerability during an extreme heat event. The authors applied a time-stratified case-crossover design to examine associations between heat waves and fatal traffic crashes during May-September of 2001–2011 in the continental United States (US). Heat waves, defined as the daily mean temperature >95% threshold for ≥2 consecutive days, were derived using gridded 12.5 km2 air temperatures from Phase 2 of the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2). Dates and locations of fatal traffic crash records were acquired from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Results show a significant positive association between fatal traffic crashes and heat waves with a 3.4% (95% CI: 0.9, 5.9%) increase in fatal traffic crashes on heat wave days versus non-heat wave days. The association was more positive for 56–65 years old drivers [8.2% (0.3, 16.7%)] and driving on rural roadways [6.1% (2.8, 9.6%)]. Moreover, a positive association was only present when the heat wave days were characterized by no precipitation [10.9% (7.3%, 14.6%)] and medium or high solar radiation [24.6% (19.9%, 29.5%) and 19.9% (15.6%, 24.4%), respectively]. These findings are relevant for developing targeted interventions for these driver groups and driving situations to efficiently reduce the negative effects of heat waves on fatal traffic crashes.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2018.07.025
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457518303257
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00014575
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Wu, Connor Y H
  • 0000-0003-1943-9841
  • Zaitchik, Benjamin F
  • Gohlke, Julia M
• Publication Date: 2018-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 195-201
• Serial:
  • Accident Analysis & Prevention
  • Volume: 119
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0001-4575
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00014575

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate change; Crash causes; Crash severity; Enthalpy; Environmental impacts; Fatalities; Heat; High temperature; Traffic crashes; Traffic safety; Weather conditions
• Uncontrolled Terms: Heat waves (Meteorology)
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01678923
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 2018 2:05PM