ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

This dissertation is concerned with the identification and quantification of environmental determinate of traffic accident characteristics. Dependent variables include accident numbers, accident rates (number of accidents per one million vehicle-miles of travel) the mean number of vehicles involved in crashes, the percentage of accidents which involve injury or fatality, the percentage which occur at night, and the percentage which involve alcohol. Independant variables include characteristics of the road frontage, and the regional environment. Data are derived from a purposive sample of 135 road segments, each 2 miles in length including two lane, four lane, divided, and freeway segments, with a wide range of road frontage and regional characteristics. Models which predict number of accidents utilize traffic volume and accident rate as independant variables, whereas models which predict accident rates utilize the type of road, the intensity of of the road frontage development and the percentage of the population within the 16-25 age group in the region. The prediction of the mean number of vehicles involved in crashes utilizes traffic volume and road frontage characteristics. Other dependent variables are not successfully predicted, yet some insightful relationships are exhitited. Some public policy implications, including the concerns of traffic accident problem indentification, resource allocation for traffic safety activities, and land use and transportation planning are discussed.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract from Dissertation Abstracts International (section B), V. 32, No. 11, May 1972, p. 6458.
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Safety Research Institute

  Huron Parkway and Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109
• Authors:
  • Snyder, J C
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 214 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Crash rates; Crash severity; Environment; Information, data, and knowledge; Mathematical models
• Uncontrolled Terms: Environmental data; Models
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00081512
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Safety Council Safety Research Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 6 1975 12:00AM