An Impact of Traffic Characteristics on Crash Frequency

Abstract

With the development of roads, modes of transportation were also developed, and increasing numbers of those modes and routes were needed. This increase brought into focus many problems of the highway system. One of the most important concerns in the highway networks is road safety, which requires various studies to be carried out to reduce crash causalities. One of the factors that affect road safety is the traffic characteristics. This includes average daily traffic, operating speed, traffic density, and heavy vehicles percentage. This study focused on the effect of average daily traffic and heavy vehicles percentage on crash frequency. The old Baghdad – Baquba rural road, a two-lane, two-way road, was chosen for this study. This study used two sets of data (traffic characteristics and crash data). Generalized linear regression models were utilized to develop a model that reflects the effect of the average daily traffic and heavy vehicles percentage on crash frequency. The results showed a positive correlation between average daily traffic and crash frequency and between heavy vehicles percentage and crash frequency.