A machine learning approach to quantify effects of geometric design features and traffic control devices on wrong-way driving incidents at partial cloverleaf interchange terminals.

This study addresses the issue of wrong-way driving (WWD) incidents at partial cloverleaf (parclo) interchange terminals in the United States. These incidents are a safety concern, often attributed to geometric design features and inadequate traffic control devices (TCDs). While previous research has acknowledged the significance of parclo interchanges as common initial entry points for WWD crashes, few studies have comprehensively quantified the impact of TCDs and design features on recurring WWD incidents.

Examining strategies, policies, and guidance for addressing wrong-way driving in the United States: A comprehensive national survey.

Introduction: This paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the current and emerging solutions, policies, and guidance employed by various agencies to mitigate wrong-way driving (WWD) activities in the United States. The study utilized a two-pronged approach, involving an online survey and follow-up phone interviews with respondents from state transportation agencies, tollway authorities, and law enforcement.

Methods: The initial step involved conducting an online survey to gather general insights about the existing strategies and practices used to combat WWD.

Comprehensive analysis of trends, distribution, and odds of wrong-way driving fatal crashes on divided highways in the United States (2004-2020).

Introduction: This study presents a comprehensive analysis of wrong-way driving (WWD) fatal crashes on divided highways in the United States over a 17-year period, from 2004 to 2020. The study aims to uncover trends, distribution patterns, and factors contributing to these fatal crashes. Data were extracted from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database.

Crashes involving distracted pedestrians: Identifying risk factors and their relationships to pedestrian severity levels and distraction modes.

The concept of distracted pedestrians and its impact on highway safety has gained increasing attention in recent years. However, studies focusing exclusively on distracted pedestrian crashes are less pervasive than distracted driving. In addition, most prior studies investigate the harmful effect of cellphone usage while walking, without considering other forms of pedestrian distraction.

Data mining approach to explore emergency vehicle crash patterns: A comparative study of crash severity in emergency and non-emergency response modes.

Emergency vehicle crashes, involving police vehicles, ambulances, and fire trucks, pose a serious traffic safety concern causing severe injury and deaths to first responders and other road users. However, limited research is available focusing on the contributing factors and their interactions related to these crashes. This research aims to address this gap by 1) identifying patterns of emergency vehicle crashes based on severity levels in both emergency and non-emergency modes and 2) comparing the associations by response modes for the related fatal, nonfatal injury, and no-injury crashes.

Cellphone-distracted crashes of novice teen drivers: Understanding associations of contributing factors for crash severity levels and cellphone usage types.

Objective: As novice teen drivers are uniquely susceptible to the harmful effects of secondary activities on cellphones, 38 states and Washington D.C. have banned all types of cellphone usage for drivers younger than 18 years or in the learner/intermediate phase of driving.

Modeling the risk of wrong-way driving at the exit ramp terminals of partial cloverleaf interchanges.

Introduction: Partial cloverleaf (parclo) interchanges with closely spaced parallel entrance and exit ramps are more prone to wrong-way driving (WWD) compared to other interchange types. In this study, a logistic regression model was developed to predict the risk of WWD at the exit ramp terminals of parclo interchanges.

Method: The logistic regression model was developed using Firth's penalized likelihood techniques based on the predictor variables such as exit ramp geometric design features, wrong-way related traffic control devices, area type, and traffic volume.

Understanding the effects of trip patterns on spatially aggregated crashes with large-scale taxi GPS data.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate how trip pattern variables extracted from large-scale taxi GPS data contribute to the spatially aggregated crashes in urban areas. The following five types of data were collected: crash data, large-scale taxi GPS data, road network attributes, land use features and social-demographic data. A data-driven modeling approach based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) was proposed for discovering hidden trip patterns from a taxi GPS dataset, and a total of fifty trip patterns were identified.

Wrong-way driving crashes: A random-parameters ordered probit analysis of injury severity.

In the context of traffic safety, whenever a motorized road user moves against the proper flow of vehicle movement on physically divided highways or access ramps, this is referred to as wrong-way driving (WWD). WWD is notorious for its severity rather than frequency. Based on data from the U.

Wrong-way driving crashes: A multiple correspondence approach to identify contributing factors.

Objective: Wrong-way driving (WWD) crashes result in 1.34 fatalities per fatal crash, whereas for other non-WWD fatal crashes this number drops to 1.10.

Analysis of driver injury severity in wrong-way driving crashes on controlled-access highways.

For more than five decades, wrong-way driving (WWD) has been notorious as a traffic safety issue for controlled-access highways. Numerous studies and efforts have tried to identify factors that contribute to WWD occurrences at these sites in order to delineate between WWD and non-WWD crashes. However, none of the studies investigate the effect of various confounding variables on the injury severity being sustained by the at-fault drivers in a WWD crash.

Investigating the risk factors associated with pedestrian injury severity in Illinois.

Introduction: Pedestrians are known as the most vulnerable road users, which means their needs and safety require specific attention in strategic plans. Given the fact that pedestrians are more prone to higher injury severity levels compared to other road users, this study aims to investigate the risk factors associated with various levels of injury severity that pedestrians experience in Illinois.

Method: Ordered-response models are used to analyze single-vehicle, single-pedestrian crash data from 2010 to 2013 in Illinois.

Evaluating the safety risk of roadside features for rural two-lane roads using reliability analysis.

The severity of roadway departure crashes mainly depends on the roadside features, including the sideslope, fixed-object density, offset from fixed objects, and shoulder width. Common engineering countermeasures to improve roadside safety include: cross section improvements, hazard removal or modification, and delineation. It is not always feasible to maintain an object-free and smooth roadside clear zone as recommended in design guidelines.

Statistical Characteristics of Wrong-Way Driving Crashes on Illinois Freeways.

Objective: Driving the wrong way on freeways, namely wrong-way driving (WWD), has been found to be a major concern for more than 6 decades. The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of this type of crash as well as to rank the locations/interchanges according to their vulnerability to WWD entries.

Methods: The WWD crash data on Illinois freeways were statistically analyzed for a 6-year time period (2004 to 2009) from 3 aspects: crash, vehicle, and person.

Prediction of potential wrong-way entries at exit ramps of signalized partial cloverleaf interchanges.

Background: Several previous studies, based upon wrong-way driving (WWD) crash history, have demonstrated that partial cloverleaf (parclo) interchanges are more susceptible to WWD movements than others. Currently, there is not a method available to predict WWD incidents and to prioritize parclo interchanges for implementing safety countermeasures for reducing WWD crashes.

Objectives: The focus of this manuscript is to develop a mathematical method to estimate the probability of WWD incidents at exit ramp terminals of this type of interchange.

Safety performance evaluation of left-side off-ramps at freeway diverge areas.

The safety performance of left-side off-ramps was evaluated by comparing that of right-side off-ramps at freeway diverge areas. Crash records at a total of 11 left-side and 63 similar right-side diverge areas in Florida were collected. Based on the data collected, the traffic conflict study and the cross-sectional comparison of crashes were conducted in this study.