Identifying critical road geometry parameters affecting crash rate and crash type

Othman, Sarbaz; Thomson, Robert; Lannér, Gunnar

Affiliations

¹Department of Applied Mechanics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

²Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Gothenburg, Sweden

³Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract and keywords

The objective of this traffic safety investigation was to find critical road parameters affecting crash rate (CR). The study was based on crash and road maintenance data from Western Sweden. More than 3000 crashes, reported from 2000 to 2005 on median-separated roads, were collected and combined with road geometric and surface data. The statistical analysis showed variations in CR when road elements changed confirming that road characteristics affect CR. The findings indicated that large radii right-turn curves were more dangerous than left curves, in particular, during lane changing manoeuvres. However sharper curves are more dangerous in both left and right curves. Moreover, motorway carriageways with no or limited shoulders have the highest CR when compared to other carriageway widths, while one lane carriageway sections on 2+1 roads were the safest. Road surface results showed that both wheel rut depth and road roughness have negative impacts on traffic safety.

Keywords: Traffic Safety; Crash Analysis; Road geometry; Road Surface; Curve safety; Crash Data

Cited Works (1)

Year	Entry
2007	Othman S, Thomson R. Influence of road characteristics on traffic safety. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.

Cited By (3)

Year	Entry
2010	Othman S, Thomson R, Lannér G. Are driving and overtaking on right curves more dangerous than on left curves? In: 54th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 17-20, 2010; Las Vegas, NV.253-264.
2015	Othman S, Carroll J. A new strategy to enhance traffic safety in developing countries. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2016	Karlsson T, Lindman M, Svanberg B, Katibeh Z. Risk estimation for different precrash factors in run‐off road crashes in curves. In: Proceedings of the 2016 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 14-16, 2016; Malaga, Spain.37-46.