Factors affecting the injury severity of out-of-control single-vehicle crashes

Abstract

Single-vehicle (SV) crashes are of major concerns because of their high fatality rates. To understand the proneness of high injury severity for vehicle operators brought about by SV crashes without the confounding influence of other road users, this study focuses on those SV crashes without colliding with pedestrians, which are defined as out-of-control SV crashes given the general consequence of involved vehicles. Moreover, to compare the influence of contributory factors (including driver-vehicle/rider-vehicle, roadway, and environmental characteristics) by vehicle types, the injury severity for riders of motorized two-wheelers and drivers of other motorized vehicles are investigated separately using two disaggregated ordered probit models. The results show that for both riders and drivers, variables such as age (65 and above), drink driving, error type of failing to have proper control, driving maneuvers of left and right turns as well as driving after midnight are associated with more severe injuries whereas factors such as wet, oily or sandy surfaces are related to less severe injury. Four other variables, i.e., foreign vehicle registration, probation or expired license, high speed-limit roads, and type of median lane, have different influences on riders and drivers on injury severity. Additionally, factors such as road traffic type and nationality are only found to significantly influence only riders and drivers respectively. The results shed light on both the similar and different causes of high injury severity for riders and drivers involved in out-of-control SV crashes. Based on the findings, targeted countermeasures may be introduced from multiple perspectives such as driver education and policy development to improve non-traffic-interactive safety.