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  • Modelling Road Work Zone Crashes’ Nature and Type of Person Involved Using Multinomial Logistic Regression
    Publication . Vieira, Adriana; Santos, Bertha; Picado-Santos, Luis
    The sustainable development goals “Good health and well-being” and “Sustainable cities and communities” of the United Nations and World Health Organization, alert governments and researchers and raise awareness about road safety problems and the need to mitigate them. In Portugal, after the economic crisis of 2008–2013, a significant amount of road assets demand investment in maintenance and rehabilitation. The areas where these actions take place are called work zones. Considering the particularities of these areas, the proposed work aims to identify the main factors that impact the occurrence of work zones crashes. It uses the statistical technique of multinomial logistic regression, applied to official data on road crashes occurred in mainland Portugal, during the period of 2010–2015. Usually, multinomial logistic regression models are developed for crash and injury severity. In this work, the feasibility of developing predictive models for crash nature (collision, run off road and running over pedestrians) and for type of person involved in the crash (driver, passenger and pedestrian), considering only one covariate (the number of persons involved in the crash), was studied. For the two predictive models obtained, the variables road environment (urban/rural), horizontal geometric design (straight/curve), pavement grip conditions (good/bad), heavy vehicle involvement, and injury severity (fatalities, serious and slightly injuries), were identified as the preponderant factors in a universe of 230 investigated variables. Results point to an increase of work zone crash probability due to driver actions such as running straight and excessive speed for the prevailing conditions.
  • Detecting Risk Factors of Road Work Zone Crashes from the Information Provided in Police Crash Reports: The Case Study of Portugal
    Publication . Santos, Bertha; Trindade, Valdemiro; Polónia, Cláudia; Santos, Luis Picado
    Several studies have shown that European police crash reports provide different detail degrees of work zone crash-related data. In this sense, the present study aims to verify the possibility of identifying significant risk factors involved in the occurrence of road work zone crashes with casualties, based on the official data usually available, through a descriptive, binary logistic, and probit regression statistical analysis. To accomplish the analysis, a total of 2597 police-reports related to 1767 Portuguese work zone crashes that occurred during the 2013–2015 period were considered and binary logistic and probit regression models were estimated by the main type of crash, contributing factor, and driver age group. Fifteen explanatory variables, selected based on the literature review and crash data provided in police crash reports, were considered in the analysis. The results obtained for the estimated coefficients and goodness-of-fit test values were found very similar for both link functions (logit and probit) and it was possible to identify risk factors. The modeling results pointed to excessive speed, disregard for vertical signs, luminosity, intersections, and motorcycle and heavy vehicle involvement as the most significant risk factors. Given the results, it is possible to conclude that binary logistic regression can be used in the statistical analysis of the available police official work zone crash data to identify and get some insight into the risk factors involved in work zone crashes. Data analysis also revealed the need to promote adequate and complete crash report filling by police officers. While police crash reports are not revised and standardized to incorporate more detailed work zone crash information, this approach can be used to support a more efficient road operation decision making and the review of some aspects related to work zone layout design.
  • Using Binary Logistic Regression to Explain the Impact of Accident Factors on Work Zone Crashes
    Publication . Santos, Bertha; Picado Santos, Luis; Trindade, Valdemiro
    For consolidated road networks, the identification, programming, and implementation of maintenance actions enables addressing the deficiencies identified in the infrastructure, ensuring the provision of an adequate service to users. The performance of such actions along the infrastructure lifetime makes it necessary to study the impact that road work zones may have on road crashes since these areas change locally and temporarily the traffic conditions offered to users (lower speeds, the presence of work equipment and workers, narrow lanes, changes in vertical and horizontal signs, etc.). This study aims to analyze the Portuguese official road work zones crash data from 2013-2015 period by using binary logistic regression models to identify the most significant factors influencing work zone crashes. Official data was processed in order to be used in a statistical analysis software and the binary logistic regressions were performed for the analysis of Portuguese work zone crashes by the type of crash (pedestrian, angle, rear-end and run-off-road), driver age groups (under 25 years, 25 to 64 and over 65 years) and a predominant contributing factor as speeding, unexpected obstacle on the road and the disregard for vertical road signs and safety distance (main contributing factors identified in this study). Results obtained shows that factors as “urban environment”, “one driver involved is running straightly”, “clean and dry pavement” and “daylight” have positive impact in a large number of models. The identification of these factors allows supporting the definition of strategies aimed at the reduction of the number and severity of crashes in road work areas.