Factors Affecting Traffic Accidents Density on Selected Multilane Rural Highways

Estimations of average crash density as a function of traffic elements and characteristics can be used for making good decisions relating to planning, designing, operating, and maintaining roadway networks. This study describes the relationships between total, collision, turnover, and runover accident densities with factors such as hourly traffic flow and average spot speed on multilane rural highways in Iraq. The study is based on data collected from two sources: police stations and traffic surveys. Three highways are selected in Wassit governorate as a case study to cover the studied locations of the accidents. Three highways are selected in Wassit governorate as a case study to cover the studied locations of the accidents. The selection includes Kut–Suwera, Kut–ShekhSaad, and Kut–Hay multilane divided highways located in the south of Iraq. The preliminary presentation of the studied highways was performed using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. Data collection was done to obtain crash numbers and types over five years with their locations, hourly traffic flow, and average spot speed and define roadway segments lengths of crash locations. The cumulative speed distribution curves introduce that the spot speed spectrum for each highway's whole traffic extends over a relatively wide range, indicating a maximum speed of 180 kph and a minimum speed of 30 kph. Multiple linear regression analysis is applied to the data using SPSS software to attain the relationships between the dependent variables and the independent variables to identify elements strongly correlated with crash densities. Four regression models are developed which verify good and strong statistical relationships between crash densities with the studied factors. The results show that traffic volume and driving speed have a significant impact on the crash densities. It means that there is a positive correlation between the single factors and crash occurrence. The higher volumes and the faster the driving speed, the more likely it is to crash. As the hourly traffic flow of automobile grows, the need for safe traffic facilities also extended. 

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