Risk Factors Associated with High Potential for Serious Crashes

The objective of this project was to identify risk factors and features that contribute to crashes along low volume roads and the cost effectiveness of countermeasures to address them.  

Crashes are random events and consequently, can occur at any location along the roadway. On roadways with higher traffic volumes, the more frequent occurrence of crashes allows for the direct identification of high crash locations using historical data. However, on local roads, crash occurrence, particularly fatal and serious injury crashes, is less frequent. This makes it difficult to identify trends and treat hazardous sites based on historical data. Geometric, traffic and other features may lend themselves toward crashes potentially happening in spot locations. Therefore, an approach to identifying these types of risk factors on low volume roads is necessary. The Oregon Department of Transportation is interested in identifying, developing and delivering approaches for the low volume roads they operate, as well as those operated by local agencies, in order to reduce the number and severity of highway crashes and improve highway safety.   The proposed research will identify risk factors and features that contribute to crashes along low volume roads and the cost effectiveness of countermeasures to address them. The approach will include identifying risk factors and features that contribute to crash occurrence, with a specific focus on low volume roads; developing a risk index of different factors and features that practitioners should look for and address along low volume roads; establishing the cost effectiveness/thresholds for different low cost countermeasures that can be used to address specific risk factors or features; and conducting limited case studies to demonstrate the use of the identified risk factors and application of the cost effectiveness thresholds that are developed.