CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS. VOL II OF FIVE

THE WORK PRESENTED IN THIS VOLUMN ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE THE RELEVANCE OF SOME ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISTRIBUTION AND CAUSATION OF ROAD ACCIDENTS. THE DATA OBTAINED FROM TWO ACCIDENT BASED SURVEYS MADE BY THE ROAD ACCIDENT RESEARCH UNIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM ARE ANALYZED AND DESCRIBED BOTH URBAN AND RURAL ROAD ACCIDENTS. THE SURVEYS, CONDUCTED DURING 1965 - 6 WITHIN AN AREA OF THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM AND DURING 1967 - 8 WITHIN THE COUNTY OF WORCESTERSHIRE, RESULTED IN OVER 600 ROAD ACCIDENTS BEING VISITED AND RECORDED FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES. IT SHOULD BE NOTED, HOWEVER, THAT 57 ACCIDENTS WERE VISITED IN THE WORCESTERSHIRE SURVEY WHICH OCCURRED IN URBAN AREAS, THAT IS IN AREAS SUBJECTED TO 30 OR 40 MPH SPEED LIMIT RESTRICTIONS AND BEING BUILT-UP AREAS PROVIDED WITH STREET LIGHTING. THESE ACCIDENTS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS OF RESULTS FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS: (1) IT WAS ASSUMED THAT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN AND RURAL ROAD ACCIDENTS WOULD BE DIFFERENT, (2) IT WAS ASSUMED THAT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE 57 URBAN ACCIDENTS WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF THE ACCIDENTS VISITED IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN BIRMINGHAM, AND (3) THE SUB SAMPLE 57 WAS NOT CONSIDERED IN ITSELF LARGE ENOUPH TO WARRANT A FULL AND SEPARATE ANALYSIS. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT NO DIRECT COMPARISONS OF THE RESULTS OF THE TWO SURVEYS HAVE BEEN MADE IN THIS VOLUME, SINCE IT IS FELT THAT PRESENTATION OF SEPARATE AND DETAILED ANALYSES OF THE URBAN AND RURAL ACCIDENTS ARE OF MORE VALUE AT PRESENT--AND INDEED MANY COMPARATIVE ANALYSES, OFTEN MADE PER SE, ARE OF LITTLE RELEVANCE TO THE ACCIDENT PROBLEM. IT IS INTENDED HOWEVER THAT SOME COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF THE DATA WILL BE MADE IN THE FUTURE. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol Ii 269 PP, 94 FIG, 125 TAB, 56 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  Birmingham University, England

  Department of Transportation and Environmental Planning
  Birmingham B15 2TT, Warwickshire,   England 
• Authors:
  • Blair, I
• Publication Date: 1969-6

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Data collection; Environmental impacts; Rural areas; Surveys; Traffic crashes; Urban areas
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220769
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 26 1970 12:00AM