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Citation |
Sun X, Hu H, Habib E, Magri D. J. Transp. Saf. Secur. 2011; 3(1): 1-14. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2011, Southeastern Transportation Center, and Beijing Jiaotong University, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
Driving risk under inclement weather has long been considered higher than that under normal weather conditions. Among several weather variables, rainfall is recognized as a critical one that affects traffic crash occurrences. Heavy rainfall often results in reduced visibility, increased stopping distances, hydroplaning, and loss of control of the vehicle. The lack of an accurate, quantitative representation of rainfall effects at a fine resolution has been a problem in past highway safety research on adverse weather. This study used radar rainfall data from the National Weather Service's WSR-88D NEXRAD Doppler Radar system that provides a comprehensive data set with large spatial coverage, high spatial resolution (in the order of few kilometers), and continuous temporal sampling to quantify the relative crash risk with a matched-pair method. Four different types of highways were selected for analysis over a 4-year time period. Each highway was divided into segments based on a fine resolution of rainfall data. The results of our analysis have indicated a higher crash risk and a higher injury risk during rain. The magnitude of the risk varies depending upon the type of highway, location of the highway, time of day, crash severity, and crash characteristics. Unlike previous studies, this project was able to identify the risk variations by type of highway and by segment because of the fine resolution of the data. The knowledge acquired by this study can be used to identify effective crash countermeasures. |