• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.203-210
• /
• 2012

Traffic accident risk of young drivers(less than 25) is reported to have 8 times as high as that of middle aged drivers(between 30 and 49). Despite the rise of traffic accident risk, few have been attempted to take a look into driving characteristics of young drivers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze age-specific risks of young driver by means of database of insurance and vehicle inspection, thereby collecting data such as age, vehicle mileage, injuries and so on. We conducted Data-Mining(CART) and Portfolio analysis according to age groups(every 10 years). The conclusions which can be drawn from this empirical study are as follows: (1) Despite the fact that young drivers have low vehicle mileage, the rate of fatality is relatively high. (2) Being concerned of vehicle mileage, 24,000km of driving experience is thought to be critical in differing in fatality rate. Having annual average mileage fewer than 24,169 km, accident frequency is relatively lower than that exceeding 24,169 km(1,571 cases). Backed upon these, some recommendations about driver's license system for young driver to improve are given.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.153-165
• /
• 2017

PURPOSES : With the increasing number of older drivers in an aging society, there is a growing need for research and planning on traffic safety for the older drivers using an improved road geometry design. This study also proposed a modified urban road interchange design, which aims to keep the older drivers away from accident-prone and high-traffic areas of the city. METHODS : In this study, we examined accident data records of older drivers to identify accident-prone zones and intersections; we studied the road geometry at these zones and analyzed if it was an underlying cause for higher number of accidents. Based on the research and subsequent analysis, we suggested plans for improvement of road geometry design at these intersections. RESULTS :By studying historic data and analyzing factors that affect the likelihood of accidents of vehicles driven by older drivers and after studying suitable traffic accident prediction models, we identified the major variables that need to be modified at accident-prone intersections, such as the width of a left turn lane at an intersection and the radius of the right turn lane at a street corner. The results have a significance probability of less than 0.001 and a 95% confidence level. To improve safety at the identified intersection, this study suggests the installation of a left-turn-lane-shaped Positive Offset and a right-turn-lane-shaped Slip Lane concept and an adjustment of intervals between intersections.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.152-166
• /
• 2022

This study analyzed the causal relationship among operating characteristics of commercial freight vehicles, dangerous driving behaviors, and traffic accident risk. The study applied the existing accident cause and prevention theory to arrive at this relationship. Data related to working characteristics of driver, driving experience, driving ability, driving psychology, vehicle characteristics (size), dangerous driving behavior, and traffic accidents were collected from 303 commercial freight vehicle drivers. Working characteristics and dangerous driving behavior data are based on the driver's digital driving record. The traffic accident data is based on the insurance accident data reflecting actual traffic accidents. First, a structural equation model was built and verified using the model fitness index. Then, the developed model was used to analyze the causal relationship between multiple independent and dependent variables simultaneously. Four dangerous driving behaviors (sudden deceleration, sudden acceleration, sudden passing, and sudden stop) were found to be highly related to traffic accidents. The results further indicate that it is necessary to establish a safety management policy and intensive management for small-sized freight vehicles, drivers with insufficient driving ability, and drivers with dangerous driving behaviors. Such policy and management are expected to reduce traffic accidents effectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.93-101
• /
• 2011

In 2008, Korea has observed total 215,822traffic accidents Although the number has decreased since then, the crash rate is still higher than those of other advanced countries. In particular, high rate of pedestrian accidents occurred on urban streets is recognized as a serious problem. The previous studies, however, are not entirely considerate of accident factors by accident type. Inspired by the fact, this study analyzes factors affecting traffic accident by accident type. Using the accident data collected on urban streets in Seodaemun-gu, this paper classifies the accidents into two groups (i.e., vehicle-vs-vehicle and vehicle-vs-person crashes), and analyzes relationships between severity and exogenous variables. For the analysis, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to estimate relationships among exogenous factors of traffic accident by each type on urban streets. The resulting model reveals that roadway related factors are highly correlated with the severity of vehicle-vs-vehicle crashes whereas environment factors are with vehicle-vs-person crashes.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.97-107
• /
• 2018

PURPOSES : The effects on traffic accidents change with the changing environment. Accordingly, this study analyzes the characteristics of traffic accidents based on the personal characteristics (gender and age) of drivers, and those of 25 autonomous districts in Seoul, and suggests improvements. METHODS : Based on data pertaining to traffic accidents in Seoul, the analysis of accident characteristics was conducted by categorizing the types of traffic accidents according to the drivers' gender and age, and characteristics of 25 autonomous districts in Seoul. Further, for statistical verification, the SPSS software was used to derive influence variables through a multinomial logistic regression analysis, and a method for reducing traffic accidents was proposed. RESULTS : Analysis results show that males tend to be more involved in speed-related accidents and females in low-experience driving-related accidents such as those during parking and alleyway driving. In addition, variables such as age, automobile type, district, and day of the week are found to influence accident types. CONCLUSIONS : This study analyzed the accident characteristics based on personal and city characteristics to reflect the sociological characteristics that influence traffic accidents. The number of traffic accidents in Korea could be decreased drastically by implementing the results of this study in customized safety education and traffic maps.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.121-129
• /
• 2012

PURPOSES : Traffic accidents at intersections have been increased annually so that it is required to examine the causations to reduce the accidents. However, the current existing accident models were developed mainly with non-linear regression models such as Poisson methods. These non-linear regression methods lack to reveal complicated causations for traffic accidents, though they are right choices to study randomness and non-linearity of accidents. Therefore, to reveal the complicated causations of traffic accidents, this study used structural equation methods(SEM). METHODS : SEM used in this study is a statistical technique for estimating causal relations using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions. SEM allow exploratory modeling, meaning they are suited to theory development. The method is tested against the obtained measurement data to determine how well the model fits the data. Among the strengths of SEM is the ability to construct latent variables: variables which are not measured directly, but are estimated in the model from several measured variables. This allows the modeler to explicitly capture the unreliability of measurement in the model, which allows the structural relations between latent variables to be accurately estimated. RESULTS : The study results showed that causal factors could be grouped into 3. Factor 1 includes traffic variables, and Factor 2 contains turning traffic variables. Factor 3 consists of other road element variables such as speed limits or signal cycles. CONCLUSIONS : Non-linear regression models can be used to develop accident predictions models. However, they lack to estimate causal factors, because they select only few significant variables to raise the accuracy of the model performance. Compared to the regressions, SEM has merits to estimate causal factors affecting accidents, because it allows the structural relations between latent variables. Therefore, this study used SEM to estimate causal factors affecting accident at urban signalized intersections.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.131-136
• /
• 2017

This study deals with the small-size roundabout accidents. The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of small-size roundabout accidents from developing various types of accident models, and to discuss the improvement countermeasures by vehicle type. The geometric characteristics of 36 roundabouts are surveyed, and the traffic accident data from 2008 to 2014 are collected and classified as those of car, truck and motor cycle. In this study, dependent variable is the number of accident and independent variables are such 15 variables as geometry and traffic volume. The main results are as follows. First, the null hypotheses that the size of roundabout and type of vehicle are not related to traffic accident are rejected. Second, 8 count data models which are all statistically significant are developed. Third, the number of circulatory roadway lane and sidewalk are selected as common variables of roundabout size. Finally, the number of entry and circulatory roadway lane are selected as common variables of vehicle type.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2017

This study deals with the safety of roundabout. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting the pedestrian accidents of roundabout near schools. In pursuing the above, this study gives particular attentions to comparatively analyzing the pedestrian accident by number of entry and circulatory lane. The traffic accident data from 2013 to 2015 are collected from TAAS data set of Road Traffic Authority. To develop the pedestrian accident model, the Poisson and negative binomial models has been utilized in this study. Such the dependent variable as the number of pedestrian accidents and the 24 independent variables as geometry, traffic volume and others are used. The main results are as follows. First, 3 Poisson and 2 negative binomial models(${\rho}^2$ of 0.153~0.426) which are all statistically significant are developed. Second, the common variable of models based on the number of circulatory roadway lane is analyzed to be the entry lane width and that of the number of entry lane is evaluated to be the design speed. Also specific variables are evaluated to splitter island, roundabout sign, number of approach road, bus stop and elementary school. Finally, the design speed might be expected to decrease the number of pedestrian accidents near schools.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.132-145
• /
• 2022

This study was based on the black box images of traffic accidents on highways, cluster analysis and prediction model comparisons were carried out. As analysis data, vehicle driving behavior and road surface conditions that can grasp road and traffic conditions just before the accident were used as explanatory variables. Considering that traffic accident data is affected by many factors, cluster analysis reflecting data heterogeneity is used. Each cluster classified by cluster analysis was divided based on the ratio of the severity level of the accident, and then an accident prediction evaluation was performed. As a result of applying the Logit model, the accident prediction model showed excellent predictive ability when classifying groups by cluster analysis and predicting them rather than analyzing the entire data. It is judged that it is more effective to predict accidents by reflecting the characteristics of accidents by group and the severity of accidents. In addition, it was found that a collision accident during stopping such as a secondary accident and a side collision accident during lane change act as important driving behavior variables.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.3-21
• /
• 1985

Since the expressway was first opened in 1968 there has been continued demand for constructing new lines of expressway, and thus it amounts to 1,420.5km in total length as of 1984. As the expressway becomes to take up more important role in our country facing motorization traffic accidents have become more of social issues, although its accident rates are relatively low compared to those on general highways in Korea, which is among the highest in the world. The purpose of the study is to investigate the correlation between the traffic accident rates on the expressway and their geometric characteristics based upon 1982 data. In order to extract the correlationship among them on as much disaggregate basis, the study has carried out the analysis on the primary data aggregated on the 100 meter intervals. One of the important findings was, among others, the design criteria of the expressway should be reconsidered with respect to the radius of the curve, superelevation, climbing lane, composed gradients, interchange facilities, tunnels and so on.