EFFECTS OF SOME NON-TRANSPORTATION FACTORS ON THE INCIDENCE AND SEVERITY OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

Previous research has indicated that relationships exist between motor vehicle traffic accidents and certain weather variables, and also that there appears to be some relationship between phases of the moon and human behavior. This study uses factor analysis to determine if valid relationships exist between traffic accidents, a consequence of inadequacies in human behavior and capabilities, and certain weather, gravitation and collision exposure variables. The data base consists of 730 observations on 39 variables over a two-year period for the City of Vancouver. The findings verify the previous conclusion that traffic accidents increase during periods of unstable and falling atmospheric pressure. Fatal, non-fatal injury and property damage-only accidents appear to be related to, or caused by, different sets of variables; some reasons for these apparent inconsistencies are discussed. A comparison with previous findings indicate that some unknown variable or variables operate in conjunction with falling pressure to make road user performance deterioriate. No relationship has been found to exist between traffic accidents and gravitational forces. This suggests that earlier findings, that human behavior and phases of the moon are related, may have been caused by spurious correlations and/or that human behavior is not affected significantly by gravitational forces.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of British Columbia, Vancouver

  Faculty of Commerce
  Vancouver, British Columbia  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Roer, P O
• Publication Date: 1974

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 165-179
• Serial:
  • LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION REVIEW
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue Number: 2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Atmospheric pressure; Crash exposure; Crash severity; Driver performance; Drivers; Factor analysis; Gravitation; Human factors; Moon; Personnel performance; Traffic crashes; Weather
• Old TRIS Terms: Barometric pressure
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00127313
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Safety Council Safety Research Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 21 1976 12:00AM