Examination of Factors Affecting Frequency and Severity of Crashes at Rail-Grade Crossings
Collisions at highway-rail grade crossings, although relatively rare events, are a critical safety concern as these types of crashes tend to be among the most severe in terms of resultant injuries and fatalities. This study assessed the effects of railway, highway, traffic, and driver characteristics on the frequency and severity of highway-railroad grade collisions. Crash frequency was examined by estimating a negative binomial model, which showed various factors to affect the frequency of crashes experienced on a site-specific basis, including: train speed limits; the number of traffic lanes; annual average daily traffic; daily train traffic; the presence of signal preemption; crossing angles; warning gates; and adjacent land use. Injury severity was examined through the development of an ordinal logit model, which showed that the degree of injury sustained as a result of train-involved crashes was influenced by: train speeds, driver age and gender, and motorist behavior at the highway-rail grade crossing.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AR070 Railroad Operational Safety.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Russo, Brendan
- Savolainen, Peter Tarmo
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2013-1-13 to 2013-1-17
- Date: 2013
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 12p
- Monograph Title: TRB 92nd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash rates; Crash severity; Injury severity; Logits; Railroad grade crossings
- Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01474937
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 13-0163
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Mar 8 2013 8:41AM