MOTORWAY ACCIDENTS IN FOG AND DARKNESS

ANALYSES HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT TO ASSESS THE ACCIDENT PROBLEM IN FOG AND IN DARKNESS ON THE MAIN MOTORWAYS IN THE COUNTRY (MI, M2, 7J, 7K, M6) OVER THE PERIOD 1969-1971; ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF ALL ACCIDENTS IN THE MOTORWAY NETWORK HAVE BEEN COVERED AND THE VARIOUS LENGTHS HAVE BEEN BROKEN DOWN TO MAKE COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. ACCIDENTS IN FOG TOTALLED 192 IN THE THREE YEAR PERIOD, MAKING UP 4 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL; 129 OF THESE OCCURED DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS. ACCIDENTS WERE ON AVERAGE MORE SERIOUS, WITH MORE CASUALTIES PER ACCIDENT, THAN THOSE OCCURING IN OTHER WEATHER CONDITIONS. ABOUT 45 PER CENT OF FOG ACCIDENTS AND 22 PER CENT OF NON-FOG ACCIDENTS OCCURRED ON ABOUT ONE-SEVENTH (160KM) OF THE MOTORWAY NETWORK. ACCIDENTS IN DARKNESS TOTALLED 1801 (39 PER CENT OF ALL ACCIDENTS) IN THE SAME PERIOD: 1563 OF THESE OCCURRED ON UNLIT MOTORWAYS. CONSIDERATION OF ACCIDENTS ON DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF ROAD RELATED TO TRAFFIC VOLUMES SHOWED A RANGE FROM 0.3 DARK ACCIDENTS PER KM PER YEAR ON THE MORE LIGHTLY TRAFFICKED SECTIONS TO 2.4 DARK ACCIDENTS PER KM PER YEAR ON THE MORE HEAVILY TRAFFICKED. IN COMPARISON, THE RANGE OF ACCIDENTS PER KM DURING ALL HOURS WAS PROPORTIONATELY LESS, BEING 1.1 TO 4.9. THE LARGER DIFFERENCES IN THE BUMBERS OF DARK ACCIDENTS PER KM WAY BE PARTLY EXPLAINED BY THE HIGHER PROPORTION OF TRAFFIC FLOW AT NIGHT ON THE MORE HEAVILY TRAFFICKED SECTIONS OF MOTORWAY. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • TRRL REPT LR 573
• Authors:
  • Johnson, H D
• Publication Date: 1973

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Analysis; Crashes; Fog; Highways; Night; Night visibility; Traffic volume; Visibility
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222406
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: R & D Rept
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Jul 16 1974 12:00AM