Influence of Traffic Parameters on the Spatial Distribution of Crashes on a Freeway to Increase Safety

Abstract

Significant research has been conducted in recent years to determine crash hotspots. This study focused on the effects of various traffic parameters, including average traffic speed and traffic volume, on the spatial distributions of freeway crashes. Specifically, this study analyzed the spatial distributions of crashes on the Qazvin–Abyek freeway in Iran using four-year crash records. Spatial crash clustering analysis was performed to identify hotspots and high cluster segments using global Moran’s I, local Moran’s I, and Getis-Ord Gi*. The global Moran’s I indicated that clusters were formed under the low range of hourly traffic volume (less than 1107 veh/h) and the high range of traffic speed (more than 97 km/h), which increased the number of heavy vehicle crashes in the early morning (time 03–06) around the 52 km segment. The results obtained from kernel density estimation (KDE), local Moran’s I, and Getis-Ord Gi* revealed similar crash hotspots. The results further showed different spatial distributions of crashes for different traffic hourly volumes, traffic speed, and crash times, and there was hotspot migration by applying different traffic conditions. These findings can be used to identify high-risk crash conditions for traffic managers and help them to make the best decisions to enhance road safety.