U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
REPORT |
This fact sheet is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
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Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-20-052 Date: November 2020 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-20-052 Date: November 2020 |
PDF Version (3.67 MB)
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-20-052 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3 Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
4. Title and Subtitle
Contributing Factors for Focus Crash and Facility Types |
5. Report Date
November 2020 |
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6. Performing Organization Code | ||||
7. Author(s)
Taha Saleem (ORCID: 0000-0002-2878-0980), Richard Porter (ORCID: 0000-0001-8535-3451), Raghavan Srinivasan (ORCID: 0000-0002-3097-5154), Daniel Carter (ORCID: 0000-0001-6572-6548), Scott Himes (ORCID: 0000-0003-2932-7691), and Thanh Le (ORCID: 0000-0001-5809-2751) |
8. Performing Organization Report No. | |||
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
VHB |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) | |||
11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-13-D-000001 |
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12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
U.S. Department of Transportation |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final Report; March 2017–February 2018 |
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14. Sponsoring Agency Code
HRDS-20 |
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15. Supplementary Notes
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety Research and Development managed this project under the Development of Crash Modification Factors program. The FHWA Office of Safety Research and Development Program Manager and Contracting Officer's Representative was Roya Amjadi (HRDS-20; ORCID: 0000-0001-7672-8485), and the Technical Manager was Karen Scurry (HSSP; ORCID: 0000-0002-3499-5515). |
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16. Abstract
The main goal of this project was to identify focus crash and facility types (FCFTs) and associated contributing factors to better inform applications of systemic safety improvements. The selection of FCFTs was guided by the use of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) databases (NHTSA 2018a; FHWA 2018c). The method used to select potential FCFTs was based on the number of fatal crashes and number of fatal-plus-incapacitating-injury crashes associated with various crash-related variables. A total of 17 FCFTs (8 intersection FCFTs and 9 nonintersection FCFTs) were identified for analysis to identify contributing factors. Three data sources were used to conduct the contributing-factor analysis: crash and roadway inventory from HSIS, climate data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and socioeconomic census data from the U.S. Census Bureau (FHWA 2018c; NOAA 2018; U.S. Census Bureau 2018). For the analysis, the research team used the random-forest method to identify the most predictive variables and then created plots of random forest–predicted crash frequencies as a function of the predictor variables to observe the general trends in the relationships. The research laid out a process for identifying and selecting countermeasures for focus crash types based on contributing factors. The countermeasure guidance focused on traffic and roadway findings. Findings linked to socioeconomic- and weather-related factors showed promise, but there is not yet a significant amount of theory to support or refute the socioeconomic- and weather-related results of this effort. |
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17. Key Words
Systemic safety, focus crash types, contributing factors, random forests, crash prediction, proven countermeasures |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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19. Security Classification (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classification (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages
308 |
22. Price
N/A |
Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |