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A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics

Traffic injuries on motorways are a public health problem worldwide. Collisions on motorways represent a high injury rate in comparison to the entire national network. Furthermore, collisions that occur on the hard–shoulder are even more severe than those that happen on the main carriageway. The pur...

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Main Authors: Paraskevi Michalaki, Mohammed Quddus, D.E. Pitfield, Andrew Huetson
Format: Default Article
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2134/20631
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author Paraskevi Michalaki
Mohammed Quddus
D.E. Pitfield
Andrew Huetson
author_facet Paraskevi Michalaki
Mohammed Quddus
D.E. Pitfield
Andrew Huetson
author_sort Paraskevi Michalaki (7178396)
collection Figshare
description Traffic injuries on motorways are a public health problem worldwide. Collisions on motorways represent a high injury rate in comparison to the entire national network. Furthermore, collisions that occur on the hard–shoulder are even more severe than those that happen on the main carriageway. The purpose of this paper is to explore motorway safety through the identification of patterns in the sequence of monthly hard–shoulder and main carriageway collisions separately over a long period of time (1993– 2011) by using reported collision data from British motorways. In order to examine the trends of hard– shoulder and motorway collisions over the same period, a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model is developed; this allows the inclusion of two time-series in the same model and the examination of the effect of one series on the other and vice-versa. Exogenous variables are also added in order to explore the long-term factors that might affect the occurrence of collisions. The factors considered are related to the infrastructure (e.g. length of motorways), socio-demographics (e.g. percentage of young drivers), traffic (e.g. percentage of vehicle-miles travelled by Heavy Goods Vehicles) and weather (e.g. precipitation). The results suggest different patterns in the sequences in terms of the lingering effects of preceding observations for the two time-series. In terms of the significance of exogenous variables, it is suggested that main carriageway collision frequency is affected by weather conditions and the presence of Heavy Goods Vehicles, while hard–shoulder collisions are decreased by the presence of Motorway Service Areas, which allow a safe exit off the motorway to stop and rest in case of fatigue.
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spelling rr-article-94398352016-02-11T00:00:00Z A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics Paraskevi Michalaki (7178396) Mohammed Quddus (1258701) D.E. Pitfield (7177802) Andrew Huetson (7178306) Other built environment and design not elsewhere classified Public health Motorway Hard–shoulder Vector autoregressive Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified Traffic injuries on motorways are a public health problem worldwide. Collisions on motorways represent a high injury rate in comparison to the entire national network. Furthermore, collisions that occur on the hard–shoulder are even more severe than those that happen on the main carriageway. The purpose of this paper is to explore motorway safety through the identification of patterns in the sequence of monthly hard–shoulder and main carriageway collisions separately over a long period of time (1993– 2011) by using reported collision data from British motorways. In order to examine the trends of hard– shoulder and motorway collisions over the same period, a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model is developed; this allows the inclusion of two time-series in the same model and the examination of the effect of one series on the other and vice-versa. Exogenous variables are also added in order to explore the long-term factors that might affect the occurrence of collisions. The factors considered are related to the infrastructure (e.g. length of motorways), socio-demographics (e.g. percentage of young drivers), traffic (e.g. percentage of vehicle-miles travelled by Heavy Goods Vehicles) and weather (e.g. precipitation). The results suggest different patterns in the sequences in terms of the lingering effects of preceding observations for the two time-series. In terms of the significance of exogenous variables, it is suggested that main carriageway collision frequency is affected by weather conditions and the presence of Heavy Goods Vehicles, while hard–shoulder collisions are decreased by the presence of Motorway Service Areas, which allow a safe exit off the motorway to stop and rest in case of fatigue. 2016-02-11T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/20631 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/A_time-series_analysis_of_motorway_collisions_in_England_considering_road_infrastructure_socio-demographics_traffic_and_weather_characteristics/9439835 CC BY 4.0
spellingShingle Other built environment and design not elsewhere classified
Public health
Motorway
Hard–shoulder
Vector autoregressive
Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified
Paraskevi Michalaki
Mohammed Quddus
D.E. Pitfield
Andrew Huetson
A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
title A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
title_full A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
title_fullStr A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
title_full_unstemmed A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
title_short A time-series analysis of motorway collisions in England considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
title_sort time-series analysis of motorway collisions in england considering road infrastructure, socio-demographics, traffic and weather characteristics
topic Other built environment and design not elsewhere classified
Public health
Motorway
Hard–shoulder
Vector autoregressive
Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified
url https://hdl.handle.net/2134/20631