• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.77-82
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• 2016

PURPOSES : This paper proposes a reliability index for the safety evaluation of freeway sections. It establishes a reliability index as a safety surrogate on freeways considering speeds and speed dispersions. METHODS : We collated values of design elements including radii, curve lengths, vertical slopes (absolute values), superelevations, and vertical slopes from seven freeway sections in Korea. We also collected data about driving speeds, traffic accidents, and their deviations. We established a reliability index using these variables. RESULTS : The average radii, curve lengths, and superelevations are highly correlated with the incidence of traffic accidents. Deviations in radius and curve lengths show an especially high correlation. The reliability index, derived from speed and speed dispersions of the seven freeway sections, also correlated highly with accidents with a correlation index of 0.63. CONCLUSIONS : Since the reliability index obtained from speed and speed dispersions are highly correlated with traffic accidents, we conclude that a reliability index can be a safety surrogate on freeways considering speeds and speed dispersions together in terms of design and operational levels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.84-89
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• 2013

The main causes of traffic accidents can be classified by 3 factors - human error, vehicle deficiency and road environmental problem and most accidents occurs not only 1 factor but combination of 2 or 3-factors. Among these factors, road environmental factor is the most important factor due to influence the behavior of cars and road users and road environmental factor affects 30% of total accidents approximately. The 5 years traffic accidents data analyzed to verify the accidents severity on Korea National Highways. In order to analyze the severity, Ordered Probit Model was used. As a independent variables of this model the number of lane, neighbor road environments, sight distance, vertical grade, lane width, shoulder width and traffic volume were used and as a dependent variables the minor injuries, serious injuries and fatalities were used. Research results shows that sight distance and lane width are identified as significant factors for the traffic accident severity and lesser sight distance and lane width shows greater traffic accident severity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.186-196
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• 2010

It has been well known that traffic accidents occur under combined functional contributions of drivers, vehicles and road facilities, and that evaluation of safety levels for a specific road section or point is generally much complicated. Additionally, most of traffic accidents occur randomly implicating it is necessary to be evaluated in terms of probability theory. Thus, the evaluation model which reflects various characteristics and probabilistic distributions of traffic accidents has been necessary. The present paper provides a reliability based model with variables of probabilistic operating speeds and design speeds together which have been individually explaining associated characteristics in traffic accidents. Consequently, the model made it possible for speed management and road improvement projects to be evaluated in a common index. Application studies were performed in three cases. Through the studies, couples of facts were identified that the model successfully considered the probabilistic operating speeds and design speeds together and that then, the model evaluated road safety alternatives relatively which are complicatedly characterized and differently located.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.95-100
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• 2022

In general, fire accidents in tunnels are sufficiently preventable, but the damage is very large. Therefore, the number of highway traffic accidents is high in spring when spring fatigue occurs and the traffic volume for maple travel increases. In particular, when analyzing the cause of death of people killed in fire accidents in tunnels, it is analyzed that most of them are suffocated by smoke. Therefore, in this study, it can be said that it is meaningful to make a social contribution to reduce the number of traffic accident deaths by establishing an efficient fire suppression system for fire accidents in tunnels.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.3D
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• pp.289-294
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• 2010

It is well known that rumble strips contribute to reduce traffic accidents. The present paper provides the reduction effect of traffic accidents under specific highway geometrics after rumble strip installation. Traffic accidents on freeway sections before and after rumble strip installation are compared when conditions of the highway geometric characteristics such as horizontal, vertical geometrics are given. It is shown that rumble strips are effective under highway geometric conditions of down slopes or right curvatures. It is also shown that rumble strips are still effective with shorter length of installation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.143-149
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• 2017

According to traffic accidents statistics, the number of fatalities, injuries and the rate of increase of traffic accidents have been decreasing over last 5-years. The fatality rate is 1.9 for total accidents but the fatality rate for single vehicle accidents shows a 7.9, which is 4 times greater than the average for all accidents. Single vehicle accidents, usually occur as a vehicle impacts a fixed objects on the roadside as the vehicle runs-off from the road. However, few researches have been conducted considering the accident severity of single vehicle accidents which impact to the fixed objects on the road. The single vehicle accident is directly related to the composition of road cross section, (since it is the required the minimum width of a road for all run-off-the-road vehicles to recover or come to a safe stop). Therefore, this study analyzes the influence of road cross section on traffic accidents to find out the severity of single vehicle accident. To analyze the road elements which are related to the accident severity, the Ordered Probit Model was used. As variables, the element of road cross section such as the radius(m), vertical curve(%), cross sectional grade(%), road width(m). number of climbing lane, median, and curb, were used (as was the 3-years of accidents data). This study found out that cross slope(%), road width(m), and the number of climbing lane are related to the severity of accident. The result of this study could be expected to improve the road safety and to be used as the base data for further road safety research.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 2016

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for estimating additional carbon emissions due to freeway incidents. METHODS : As our country grows, our highway policy has mainly neglected the environmental and social sectors. However, with the formation of a national green growth keynote and an increase in the number of people interested in environmental and social issues, problems related to social issues, such as traffic accidents and congestion, and environmental issues, such as the impact of air pollution caused by exhaust gases that are emitted from highway vehicles, are beginning to be discussed. Accordingly, studies have been conducted on a variety of environmental aspects in the field of road transport, and for the quantitative calculation of greenhouse gas emissions, using various methods. However, in order to observe the effects of carbon emissions, microscopic simulations must use many difficult variables such as cost, analysis time, and ease of analysis process. In this study, additional greenhouse gas emissions that occur because of highway traffic accidents were classified by type (incident handling time, number of lanes blocked, freeway level of service), and the annual additional emissions based on incidents were calculated. According to the results, congestion length and emissions tend to increase with an increase in incident clearance time, number of occupied lanes, and worsening level of service. Using this data, we analyzed accident data on the Gyeong-bu Expressway (Yang-Jae IC - Osan IC) for a year. RESULTS : Additional greenhouse gas emissions that occur because of highway traffic accidents were classified by type (incident handling time, number of lanes blocked, freeway level of service) and annual additional emissions caused by accidents were calculated. CONCLUSIONS : In this study, a methodology for estimating carbon emissions due to freeway incidents was developed that incorporates macroscopic flow models. The results of the study are organized in the form of a look-Up table that calculates carbon emissions rather easily.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.156-168
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• 2024

Purpose: The trend of highway traffic accidents shows a repeating pattern of increase and decrease, with the fatality rate being highest on highways among all road types. Therefore, there is a need to establish improvement measures that reflect the situation within the country. Method: We conducted accident severity analysis using Random Forest on data from accidents occurring on 10 specific routes with high accident rates among national highways from 2019 to 2021. Factors influencing accident severity were identified. Result: The analysis, conducted using the SHAP package to determine the top 10 variable importance, revealed that among highway traffic accidents, the variables with a significant impact on accident severity are the age of the perpetrator being between 20 and less than 39 years, the time period being daytime (06:00-18:00), occurrence on weekends (Sat-Sun), seasons being summer and winter, violation of traffic regulations (failure to comply with safe driving), road type being a tunnel, geometric structure having a high number of lanes and a high speed limit. We identified a total of 10 independent variables that showed a positive correlation with highway traffic accident severity. Conclusion: As accidents on highways occur due to the complex interaction of various factors, predicting accidents poses significant challenges. However, utilizing the results obtained from this study, there is a need for in-depth analysis of the factors influencing the severity of highway traffic accidents. Efforts should be made to establish efficient and rational response measures based on the findings of this research.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.127-134
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• 2016

PURPOSES : Visibility of lanes on the road improves as retro-reflectivity rises. This helps reduce traffic accidents at nighttime or in bad weather. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of improved visibility on reduction of traffic accidents when the color of the lane in the median of the highway was changed from yellow to white. METHODS : In order to evaluate the accident reduction effect of the white left shoulder line, Hauer (1997)'s Comparison-Group method was chosen as an analysis methodology. The JungBu-2 highway, which is equipped with the white left shoulder line and is in trial operation, was chosen as a target for analysis. Data of accidents for 10 months before and after installation was collected and analyzed. In addition to the number of accidents, the types of accidents were classified into nighttime accidents, accidents in bad weather, and median collisions. The accident reduction effect of improved visibility of lanes was analyzed. RESULTS : The analysis' finding showed that installation of the white left shoulder line decreased the number of accidents by 28%. Moreover, improvement in visibility was effective in reducing nighttime accidents by 67.63%, accidents in bad weather by 55.19%, and median collisions by 48.55%. CONCLUSIONS : Based on the analysis' results in this study, it was concluded that white left shoulder line on the freeway contributed to reduce traffic accidents, especially nighttime accidents, accidents in bad weather, and median collisions.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2011

With respect to the trend of highway traffic accident, highway accident is in decline, whileas, the fatality is on an increasing trend. Thus, many efforts to decrease highway traffic accidents and improve the safety, are required. In particular, in case of highway, the management standard by grade for accident black spot is designated. Thus, investing the effect factors by grade for highway traffic accident is required in detail. Thus, in this study, the factors affecting the traffic accidents among the environmental factors based on the graded data for the accident black spot in the applicable section targeting the Seoul-Pusan Express Highway, were reviewed; accident forecasting model which would analyze the characteristics of the accidents for determining the accident grade, was developed. As a result of establishing a model by using Quantification Theory of Type II, considering the characteristics of the dependent and independent variables based on the geometric structure, 'the fixed variable' among the variables relating to the accident, for the variables influencing over the accident grade, 'the type of vans, a chassis and people', 'the trailers, special vehicles and chassis people' and 'the negligence of watching and cloudy weather' were analyzed as common factors, in case of 'horizontal alignment', 'longitudinal slope' and, 'barricade' respectively.