Distribution and Characteristics of Crashes at Different Work Zone Locations in Virginia

Abstract

Work zones tend to cause hazardous conditions for drivers and construction workers, because they create conflicts between construction activities and traffic, thus exacerbating the existing traffic conditions. Every effort should therefore be made to minimize the negative impacts of work zones. A clear understanding of work-zone crash characteristics will help to determine appropriate measures to minimize work-zone hazards. This study investigated the characteristics of work-zone crashes that occurred in Virginia from 1996 through 1999. The information on each crash was obtained from police crash records. Each crash was located in one of five areas of the work zone—( a) advance warning, ( b) transition, ( c) longitudinal buffer, ( d) activity, and ( e) termination. The percentage distributions were analyzed relative to crash location, crash severity, collision type, and highway type. The proportionality test was used to determine significant differences at the 5% significance level. The results indicate that the activity area is the predominant location of work-zone crashes regardless of highway type, and rear-end crashes are the predominant crash type. The results also indicate that the proportion of sideswipe-in-same-direction crashes in the transition area is significantly higher than that in the advance warning area.