A METHOD OF INVESTIGATING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
THE THREE MAJOR FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE THE DRIVER, THE ROAD, AND THE MOTOR VEHICLE. ONE-CAR ACCIDENTS WERE INVESTIGATED IN OHIO. A TEAM OF ENGINEERS EXAMINED ALL OF THE ROADWAY AND TRAFFIC DEVICES WHICH WERE THOUGHT TO HAVE POSSIBLY CONTRIBUTED TO EACH ACCIDENT, AND A TEAM OF SOCIOLOGISTS INTERVIEWED THE DRIVERS INVOLVED. THE FOLLOWING HIGHWAY FIELD MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE AT THE SITE OF EACH ONE-CAR ACCIDENT: (1) EXACT LOCATION OF THE ACCIDENT AND THE PATH FOLLOWED BY THE ACCIDENT CAR, (2) PAVEMENT CROSS-SECTION, NUMBER AND WIDTH OF LANES, (3) SHOULDER CROSS-SECTION, (4) SAFE SPEED, (5) SIGHT DISTANCE AVAILABLE FOR PASSING, (6) DRY PAVEMENT COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION, (7) PAVEMENT RIDEABILITY, AND (8) PRESENCE OF ADVISORY SPEED SIGNS AND PAVEMENT MARKING. RESULTS OF DRIVER INTERVIEWS ARE REPORTED IN TABULAR FORM. AGE, ALCOHOL, EDUCATION, MARITAL STATUS AND TRAFFIC ARREST HISTORY ARE PRINCIPAL DRIVER VARIABLES THAT APPEAR TO HAVE AN EFFECT ON ACCIDENT RATES. IT APPEARS THAT THE INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE MIGHT BE UTILIZED AS A SORT OF TEST TO MEASURE DRIVER INSIGHT OR AWARENESS OF SELF OF THE GENERAL DRIVING PUBLIC.
- Record URL:
-
Supplemental Notes:
- No 161, pp 30-47, 7 FIG, 19 TAB, 10 REF Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
-
Authors:
- Brittenham, Thomas G
- Glancy, David M
- Karrer, Emmett H
- Publication Date: 1957
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Pagination: 18p
- Monograph Title: Investigating and forecasting traffic accidents
-
Serial:
- Highway Research Board Bulletin
- Issue Number: 161
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Age; Alcohols; Behavior; Coefficient of friction; Crash causes; Crash investigation; Crash rates; Cross sections; Drivers; Education; Field tests; Highways; Interviewing; Location; Marital status; Motor vehicles; Pavements; Riding qualities; Road markings; Road shoulders; Sight distance; Single vehicle crashes; Speed; Traffic crashes; Traffic signs; Width
- Uncontrolled Terms: Field measurements; Violations
- Old TRIS Terms: Pavement width; Traffic marking
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00220316
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Apr 21 1994 12:00AM