RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCIDENT RATES AND HOURLY TRAFFIC VOLUMES ON GERMAN HIGHWAYS

The author discusses the limitations of using average daily traffic (ADT) and accident rate (AR) in the investigation of accidents. The more meaningful results that gwynn and leutzbech have obtained by measuring accident rates as a function of the hourly traffic no multi-lane roads carrying single-direction traffic at the time of the accident are presented. These results showed that rear-end collisions increase with traffic volume, but other types of accident do not. Reference is made to further investigations which have included the estimation of vehicle-kms travelled at the site at the time of the accident, the classification of accidents into different types and according to the severity of the accidents. Direct economic consequences were estimated in terms of accident cost rates (ACR which are obtained by dividing the cost of accident by the number of vehicle-KMS travelled). Details are given of similar studies that have been made on two-lane highways with two-way traffic. This is followed by an account of investigations of detailed measurements of traffic flow which have been made to determine the occurrence of potentially hazardous driving and relating this to traffic volume. It is concluded that for both types of road the accident rate is related to traffic volume at the time of the accident and that a driver's willingness to take a risk is also related to traffic volume. /IRRD/

• Corporate Authors:

  Planning and Transport Res and Computation Co, Ltd

  40 Grosvenor Gardens
  London SW1,   England 
• Authors:
  • Brilon, W
• Publication Date: 0

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Average daily traffic; Crash investigation; Crash rates; Crash severity; Hazards; Hours; Rear end crashes; Risk assessment; Traffic volume
• ITRD Terms: 1643: Accident; 1612: Accident rate; 8513: Classification; 224: Cost; 8125: Germany; 9030: Hour; 1620: Rear end collision; 2259: Risk taking; 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 671: Traffic flow; 292: Vehicle mile
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00083127
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Conf Paper
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: May 1 1975 12:00AM