PRECIPITATION AND FATAL MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES: Continental Analysis with High-Resolution Radar Data

Motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and weather is frequently cited as a contributing factor in fatal crashes. Previous studies have investigated the link between these crashes and precipitation typically using station-based observations that, while...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 2019-08, Vol.100 (8), p.1453-1462
Main Authors: Stevens, Scott E., Schreck, Carl J., Saha, Shubhayu, Bell, Jesse E., Kunkel, Kenneth E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol
Climate change
Crashes
Environmental aspects
Fatalities
High resolution
Mortality
Motor vehicles
Precipitation
Precipitation (Meteorology)
Public health
Radar
Radar data
Rain
Resolution
Statistics
Studies
Systematic review
Traffic accidents
Traffic accidents & safety
Vehicles
Weather
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and weather is frequently cited as a contributing factor in fatal crashes. Previous studies have investigated the link between these crashes and precipitation typically using station-based observations that, while providing a good estimate of the prevailing conditions on a given day or hour, often fail to capture the conditions present at the actual time and location of a crash. Using a multiyear, high-resolution radar reanalysis and information on 125,012 fatal crashes spanning the entire continental United States over a 6-yr period, we find that the overall risk of a fatal crash increases by approximately 34% during active precipitation. The risk is significant in all regions of the continental United States, and it is highest during the morning rush hour and during the winter months.
ISSN:0003-0007
1520-0477
DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0001.1