Factors affecting lane change crashes

This study aims to investigate the contributing factors affecting the occurrence of crashes while lane-changing maneuvers of drivers. Two different data sets were used from the same drivers' population. The first data set was collected from the traffic police crash reports and the second data set was collected through a questionnaire survey that was conducted among 429 drivers. Two different logistic regression models were developed by employing the two sets of the collected data. The results of the crash occurrence model showed that the drivers' factors (gender, nationality and years of experience in driving), location and surrounding condition factors (non-junction locations, light and road surface conditions) and roads feature (road type, number of lanes and speed limit value) are the significant variables that affected the occurrence of lane-change crashes. About 57.2% of the survey responders committed that different sources of distractions were the main reason for their sudden or unsafe lane change including 21.2% was due to mobile usage. The drivers' behavior model results showed that drivers who did sudden lane change are more likely to be involved in traffic crashes with 2.53 times than others. The drivers who look towards the side mirrors and who look out the windows before lane-change intention have less probability to be involved in crashes by 4.61 and 3.85 times than others, respectively. Another interesting finding is that drivers who reported that they received enough training about safe lane change maneuvering during issuing the driving licenses are less likely to be involved in crashes by 2.06 times than other drivers.     

Predicting downgrade crash frequency with the random-parameters negative binomial model: Insights into the impacts of geometric variables on downgrade crashes in Wyoming

Road deaths, injuries and property damage place a huge burden on the economy of most nations. Wyoming has a high crash rate on mountain passes. The crash rates observed in the state is as a result of many factors mainly related to the challenging mountainous terrain in the state, which places extra burden on drivers in terms of requiring higher levels of alertness and driving skill. This study was conducted to investigate factors leading to crashes on Wyoming downgrades, with a focus on geometric variables. Traditionally, crash frequency analysis is conducted using count models such as Poisson or negative binomial models. However, factors that affect crash frequency are known to vary across observations. The use of a methodology that fails to take into account heterogeneity in observed and unobserved effects relating to roadway characteristics can lead to biased and inconsistent estimates. Inferences made from such parameter estimates may be misleading. This study employed the random-parameters negative binomial regression models to evaluate the impact of geometric variables on crash frequency. Five separate models were estimated for total, fatal/injury, property damage only (PDO), truck, and non-truck crash frequencies. Several geometric and traffic variables were found to influence the frequency of crashes on downgrades. These included segment length, vertical grade, shoulder width, lane width, presence of downgrade warning sign, vertical curve length, presence of a passing lane, percentage of trucks, number of lanes and AADT. The results suggest that segment length, lane width, presence of a passing lane, presence of a downgrade warning sign, vertical grade, and percentage of trucks are best modeled as random parameters. The findings of this study will provide transportation agencies with a better understanding of the impact of geometric variables on downgrade crashes.     

Road characteristics and environment factors associated with motorcycle fatal crashes in Malaysia

This study aims to determine risk factors contributing to traffic crashes in 9,176 fatal cases involving motorcycle in Malaysia between 2010 and 2012. For this purpose, both multinomial and mixed models of motorcycle fatal crash outcome based on the number of vehicle involved are estimated. The corresponding model predicts the probability of three fatal crash outcomes: motorcycle single-vehicle fatal crash, motorcycle fatal crash involving another vehicle and motorcycle fatal crash involving two or more vehicles. Several road characteristic and environmental factors are considered including type of road in the hierarchy, location, road geometry, posted speed limit, road marking type, lighting, time of day and weather conditions during the fatal crash. The estimation results suggest that curve road sections, no road marking, smooth, rut and corrugation of road surface and wee hours, i.e. between 00.00 am to 6 am, increase the probability of motorcycle single-vehicle fatal crashes. As for the motorcycle fatal crashes involving multiple vehicles, factors such as expressway, primary and secondary roads, speed limit more than 70 km/h, roads with non-permissible marking, i.e. double lane line and daylight condition are found to cause an increase the probability of their occurrence. The estimation results also suggest that time of day (between 7 pm to 12 pm) has an increasing impact on the probability of motorcycle single-vehicle fatal crashes and motorcycle fatal crashes involving two or more vehicles. Whilst the multinomial logit model was found as more parsimonious, the mixed logit model is likely to capture the unobserved heterogeneity in fatal motorcycle crashes based on the number of vehicles involved due to the underreporting data with two random effect parameters including 70 km/h speed limit and double lane line road marking.     

道路因素对典型较严重道路交通事故严重性的影响分析

基于道路交通事故数据探究事故影响因素对于认识事故的影响因素、提高交通安全水平具有重要意义。利用近年来国内典型较严重道路交通事故数据,应用泊松模型和负二项模型,以区分事故形态的方式建立追尾事故、侧碰事故及撞行人事故的事故死亡率的道路影响因素分析模型。这些模型以三类事故中涉及人员的死亡数为因变量,以一系列道路因素为自变量,将事故涉及人数作为偏移变量。模型的具体形式以过离散系数及赤池信息量准则(AIC)为依据进行选择。结果显示,追尾事故的死亡率与道路等级、路侧防护设施显著相关;侧碰事故则与天气、路表情况、路口路段位置、坡度以及道路结构有关;撞行人事故与路表情况、道路等级、车道数、平曲线半径有关。本文拓展了事故严重性研究的深度,其研究成果对于更好地利用重特大事故的深入调查数据有现实意义,也可为事故分析及道路设计等提供借鉴。      

基于仿真的高速公路混合收费站通行能力确定方法

高速公路收费站通行能力直接决定了高速公路的通行能力,在总体上制约着公路的交通运行状况。随着电子收费系统(ETC)技术的推广和应用,大量人工收费车道和ETC收费车道并存的混合收费站随之出现,合理地确定混合收费站通行能力是收费系统设计的重要问题。分析了高速公路混合收费站中人工收费和ETC收费的交通流特性,结合现场实际调查数据标定参数并建立了VISSIM仿真模型,获得了收费站人工收费车道和ETC收费车道数在不同比例的情况下收费站的综合通行能力,并给出了收费站通行能力最优时,ETC交通量占总交通量的最佳比例。此外,研究还进行了收费站综合服务能力仿真研究,给出了在输入交通量一定的情况下,ETC交通量分别占10%、30%、50%的情况下收费站的服务能力。研究为混合收费站的合理通行能力确定,以及ETC车道开设方法提供了重要的参考。     

In-depth understanding of lane changing interactions for in-vehicle driving assistance systems

Lane-changing events are often related with safety concern and traffic operational efficiency due to complex interactions with neighboring vehicles. In particular, lane changes in stop-and-go traffic conditions are of keen interest because these events lead to higher risk of crash occurrence caused by more frequent and abrupt vehicle acceleration and deceleration. From these perspectives, in-depth understanding of lane changes would be of keen interest in developing in-vehicle driving assistance systems. The purpose of this study is to analyze vehicle interactions using vehicle trajectories and to identify factors affecting lane changes with stop-and-go traffic conditions. This study used vehicle trajectory data obtained from a segment of the US-101 freeway in Southern California, as a part of the Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) project. Vehicle trajectories were divided into two groups; with stop-and-go and without stop-and-go traffic conditions. Binary logistic regression (BLR), a well-known technique for dealing with the binary choice condition, was adopted to establish lane-changing decision models. Regarding lane changes without stop-and-go traffic conditions, it was identified based on the odd ratio investigation that he subject vehicle driver is more likely to pay attention to the movement of vehicles ahead, regardless of vehicle positions such as current and target lanes. On the other hand, the subject vehicle driver in stop-and-go traffic conditions is more likely to be affected by vehicles traveling on the target lane when deciding lane changes. The two BLR models are adequate for lane-changing decisions in normal and stop-and-go traffic conditions with about 80 % accuracy. A possible reason for this finding is that the subject vehicle driver has a tendency to pay greater attention to avoiding sideswipe or rear-end collision with vehicles on the target lane. These findings are expected to be used for better understanding of driver’s lane changing behavior associated with congested stop-and-go traffic conditions, and give valuable insights in developing algorithms to process sensor data in designing safer lateral maneuvering assistance systems, which include, for example, blind spot detection systems (BSDS) and lane keeping assistance systems (LKAS).     

隧道与互通出口小净距路段换道可靠性研究

为分析高速公路隧道与互通出口小净距路段在不同交通流状况下的车辆驶出概率,提出了基于交通仿真的安全换道概率模型。首先,采用VISSIM标定仿真模型并进行正交试验,获取小净距路段在不同净距长度、交通量、驶出比例、大型车比例下的交通数据,在此基础上确定瞬时交通流密度及相应车流平均速度的计算方法,构建相应的分布模型,通过K均值聚类算法研究不同速度下的瞬时交通流密度大小和出现概率;同时引入可靠度方法并利用微分法来构建车辆安全换道概率模型,综合考虑车速、车流密度、目标车道临界可插入间隙等因素的不确定性,应用蒙特卡罗仿真法搭建求解概率模型的算法,并通过MATLAB对模型进行求解;针对分流车初始位置的不同,分别得到了不同交通量、大型车比例、净距长度下的换道驶出成功率,进而研究不同交通流状况组合下的净距长度。结果表明：交通量、大型车比例、净距长度对净距路段内侧车道车辆换道驶出成功率有显著性影响,研究结果可为规范的进一步完善提供参考。     

基于冲突极值模型的非常规信号交叉口安全评价

为了评估非常规信号交叉口交通安全,提出了基于冲突极值模型的横断面分析方法.利用计算机视频技术提取了南京市3个信号交叉口(1个设施组和2个参照组)96h的交通冲突数据和交通流数据,构建了包含数据层[处理层[先验层的3层贝叶斯超阈值冲突极值模型,利用马尔可夫链蒙特卡罗仿真方法对模型参数进行估计,采用预测交通事故和比值比计算...     

双车道高速公路追尾事故实时预测模型

现有的高速公路实时事故预测模型对高速公路信息化采集设备的布设密度和采集的数据粒度要求很高,在低信息化的高速公路管理工作上难以得到应用.结合国内高速公路信息化现状,使用单个检测器所采集的数据,对高速公路追尾事故实时风险进行研究.基于江苏省扬州市启扬高速公路上布设的超声波交通流检测器所采集的交通流数据,采用配对案例对照方法和二元逻辑回归,建立了双车道高速公路追尾事故实时预测模型.对事故前5~20 min的交通流数据分别构建流量时空矩阵、速度时空矩阵、平均车头间距时空矩阵,通过引入矩阵特征值简化建模过程并避免了指标间的相关性过高问题.模型总体精度85.7%,事故预测精度33.3%,误报率低于2%,相比已有模型总体预测精度较高,误报率较低,表明了该方法应用于追尾事故实时预测领域的可行性和有效性.      

基于车道的瓶颈交通流失效识别实证研究

交通流失效识别是确定交通状态、制定交通管理策略的关键。为精细化识别各车道交通状态的差异,提出以车道为基础,利用速度变形累积曲线将每个时间间隔内的速度波动"转折点"放大,较为精确和直观地确定各车道的瓶颈交通流失效时间。相比于以往基于断面和基于阈值的识别方法,该方法更为精细和客观,不仅能有效识别路段的半拥挤状态,也可以深入分析拥挤的横向、纵向传播特性。以上海市快速路军工路出口匝道附近作为研究对象,结果表明,出口匝道附近的拥挤一般先由最外侧车道开始,平均经4 min 之后扩散到最内侧车道,但在向上游纵向蔓延的过程当中,内侧车道反而比外侧车道更容易发生交通拥挤。      

连续数据环境下的道路交通事故风险预测模型

针对现有研究多基于病例对照的欠采样方法,即每起事故从连续交通流数据中按一定比例抽取对照的非事故数据构建模型,而该类模型在连续数据环境中的预测精度存在缺陷的状况,对城市交通连续观测并动态调控的技术环境（简称连续数据环境）开展道路交通事故风险预测模型构建研究。首先提出基于全样本交通流数据,结合“调整事故分类阈值”的方法解决事故风险预测研究中的非平衡数据分类问题;而后采用上海市城市快速路2014年5,6月的线圈检测交通流数据及历史事故数据开展实证研究,以受试者工作特征曲线下面积为评价指标,对比基于全样本和抽样样本构建的常用事故风险预测模型（逻辑回归、随机森林）的整体预测能力;以灵敏度和特异度的几何均数为评价指标,对比3种分类阈值计算方式（约登指数法、事故占比法和交叉点法）对事故/非事故综合预测精度的影响。结果表明：在连续数据环境下,采用全样本数据建模能使模型整体预测能力提高13.06%;基于约登指数法进行分类阈值计算可使模型的事故/非事故综合预测精度最佳。     

考虑车道荷载差异的多车道桥梁横向折减系数

为考虑车道荷载差异对多车道桥梁横向折减系数的影响，提出横向折减系数的多系数表达模式，并改进基于独立重复试验的相遇车道荷载方法以进行系数校核。首先，引入反映车道荷载差异性的车道修正系数和体现多车道荷载相遇概率的车道组合系数，形成横向折减系数的多系数表达模式。其次，改进目前常用的基于独立重复试验的相遇车道荷载方法，将车道交通流量及荷载分布的差异性涵盖进来。随后，参数化研究横向折减系数的关键影响参量，包括货车通过控制断面的平均时间、荷载重现期、车道交通量和车道荷载分布等。最后，基于某高速公路实测动态称重数据，给出采用该方法校核横向折减系数的详细过程，并与传统方法及JTG D60-2015规范方法所得结果进行对比。研究表明：所提出的改进相遇车道荷载方法，摈弃了传统方法中车重正态分布、车道荷载同分布、最大观测车重与均值3.5倍偏差关系等备受质疑的假设，是更一般性的解答。参数化分析表明：货车通过控制断面的平均时间和荷载重现期对结果影响很小，货车荷载模型及其在车道间差异性则影响很显著，说明对车道荷载分布规律进行准确建模的重要性。实测车道货车荷载数据统计发现：货车的交通量和荷载分布在车道之间具有明显的差异，传统方法和规范方法给出的横向折减系数均高估了实际情况，最大达19%，可能造成设计与管养资源的浪费；而基于该方法校核的横向折减系数，更能深入揭示各车道荷载的贡献规律，准确反映不同车道组合作用下的荷载横向折减规律，具有显著的工程应用价值。     

山区高速公路隧道路段与开放路段的事故影响因素分析

高速公路隧道构造特殊且通行环境复杂,因而通常事故多发。为探究高速公路隧道路段与开放路段事故影响因素和严重程度致因机理的差异,采集沪昆高速邵怀段2011—2016年期间1 537起事故为研究样本;以事故发生路段为响应变量构建逻辑回归模型,解释各种风险因素对事故发生路段倾向性的影响差异;分别针对隧道路段与开放路段建立模型研究事故伤害严重程度的影响因素。建立二元Logit回归模型分析事故的发生倾向性和2类路段的事故严重程度的影响因素;采用随机参数Logit模型以反映异质性条件对参数的影响。统计表明:与疲劳驾驶、未保持安全距离相关的事故发生在隧道路段的概率更高,其事故发生概率分别是开放路段的2.373和2.482倍;与隧道路段事故严重程度正相关的因素包括下坡（坡度2%以上）、夏季和超速行驶,其中下坡（坡度2%以上）段的严重事故发生的概率为上坡（坡度2%以上）的3.397倍,夏季的严重事故发生概率为秋季的3.951倍,超速行驶相关的严重事故发生概率为其他不当驾驶行为的4.242倍;与开放路段事故严重程度正相关的因素包括超速行驶和疲劳驾驶,其中超速行驶相关的严重事故概率是其他不当驾驶行为的2.713倍,疲劳驾驶相关的严重事故概率是其他不当驾驶行为的4.802倍。研究表明,山区高速公路隧道路段与开放路段的事故发生概率及其严重程度的影响因素存在一定的差异性,研究结论可为山区高速公路差异管理方案制定提供依据。      

自动驾驶专用车道影响下的CACC车流管理策略

自动驾驶专用车道对混合交通流的作用与协同自适应巡航控制(Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control,CACC)车流大小相关.为分析已存在自动驾驶专用车道场景下CACC车流在各车道上的分布情况对交通流的影响,利用已有的人工驾驶车辆(Human-driving Vehicle,HV)和CACC跟...     

Association of reduced visibility with crash outcomes

Most of the information necessary for driving a vehicle is regarded as visual information. In spite of its importance, visibility conditions at the time of a crash are often not documented at a high level of detail. Past studies have not examined the quantified values of visibility and its association with crashes. The current study merged data collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with 2010–2012 Florida crash data. From the thousands of logged weather events compiled by the NOAA, the researchers isolated periods of normal visibility and comparable periods of reduced visibility in a matched-pairs study. The NOAA data provided real visibility score based on the spatiotemporal data of the crashes. Additionally, the crash data, obtained from Roadway Information Database (RID), contains several geometric and traffic variables that allow for effects of factors and visibility. The study aims to associate crash occurrence under different levels of visibility with factors included in the crash database by developing ordinal logistic regression. The intent is to observe how different visibility conditions contribute to a crash occurrence. The findings indicate that the likelihood of a crash increase during periods of low visibility, despite the tendency for less traffic and for lower speeds to prevail during these times. The findings of this study will add valuable knowledge to the realm of the impact of visibility in the way of using and designing appropriate countermeasures.     

An experimental study on errors regarding the driving behavior of young males caused by temporal urgency on open roads: A Bayesian estimation

Efforts made to prevent road traffic crashes have reduced the number of crashes involving young drivers, however, overall, they are still the most common age group reported in these incidents. In this study, the driving behaviors of ten young male drivers were compared based on lane change—under time pressure and in normal conditions—on open roads where the surroundings constantly change. The study also chronologically analyzed the motions within five seconds from when the driver started steering. The results of the analysis revealed that, compared to normal conditions, drivers under time pressure responded by steering first and viewing their surroundings second. It was also estimated that, regardless of the conditions, the driver tended to use the indicator two to zero seconds before adjusting the steering. This finding indicates that the delay in viewing their surroundings resulted in delayed signaling, and the series of driving behaviors to change lanes may have been overcrowded in time. The findings of this study suggest that it is possible to prevent human error by focusing on the balance and connection between cognition and the behaviors required for a series of driving behaviors.     

Modeling two-way stop-controlled intersection crashes with zero-inflated models on Louisiana rural two-lane highways

Intersection safety continues to be a crucial issue throughout the United States. In 2016, 27% of the 37,461 traffic fatalities on U.S. roadways occurred at or near intersections. Nearly 70% of intersection-related fatalities occurred at unsignalized intersections. At such intersections, vehicles stopping or slowing to turn create speed differentials between vehicles traveling in the same direction. This is particularly problematic on two-lane highways. Research was performed to analyze safety performance for intersections on rural, two-lane roadways, with stop control on the minor roadway. Roadway, traffic, and crash data were collected from 4148 stop-controlled intersections of all 64 Parishes (counties) statewide in Louisiana, for the period of 2013 to 2017. Four count approaches, Poisson, Negative Binomial (NB), Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and Zero-inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) were used to model the number of intersection crashes for different severity levels. The results indicate that ZIP models provide a better fit than all other models. In addition to traffic volume, larger curve radii of major and minor roads and wider lane widths of major roads led to significantly smaller crash occurrences. However, higher speed limits of major roads led to significantly greater crash occurrences. Four-leg stop-controlled intersections have 35% greater total crashes, 49% greater fatal and injury crashes, and 25% greater property damage only (PDO) crashes, relative to three-leg intersections.     

公交与右转混合型专用道仿真分析及效益评价

为解决设置公交专用道所带来的道路资源利用率低，相邻车道交通压力增大，专用道分时段开启致使社会车辆行驶混乱等问题，基于车种分离思想，提出一种公交车辆与右转车辆混合专用道的组织方式，允许公交车辆与右转社会车辆共用一条车道，以寻求保持公交优先与减少对社会车辆影响的平衡点。为论证该方案的可行性，首先，针对所研究的道路环境，提出了基于流量生成模型与配时优化模型的车道组仿真流程；随后，在考虑红灯时右转车辆行驶特性的前提下，建立了人均延误和车均延误的双指标评价矩阵模型；最后，分别在MATLAB和VISSIM仿真平台上，实现了对传统车道组、公交与右转混合型专用道车道组和公交专用道车道组3种方案的效益评价，并对其中的关键影响因素进行分析。仿真结果表明：所提出的公交与右转混合型专用道车道组的总体车均延误与人均延误在大多情况下处于较低水平，而公交专用道车道组和普通车道组也具有各自的优势区域；公交与右转混合型专用道的车道组织方式可以在保证社会车辆延误不明显增加的情况下，有效确保公交车辆的优先性，在一定条件下具有适用性，在工程实践中可作为公交专用道的过渡或替代方案。     

基于事故特征耦合影响的城市道路交通事故影响分析

城市道路交通事故发生后,由于事故车辆占用车道,使得车辆通行的车道数目减少,道路的通行能力降低,造成排队和交通拥堵,对交通运行产生一定的影响。以双向6车道的城市道路为例,运用Vissim仿真软件模拟交通事故下的交通运行,分析车流量、占道类型、事故持续时间以及借道超车4种因素下的交通影响。结果表明,流量越大、事故持续时间越长、占道数目越多,事故对交通的影响越大。当流量达到3 400 veh/h（D级服务水平）,占1个车道的车辆延误显著增加,直至流量达到4 000 veh/h时才逐渐趋于平稳,且占据车道2比占据车道1和占据车道3的延误要大;当流量达到1 900 veh/h（B级服务水平）,占2条车道的车辆延误显著增加直至流量达到2 700 veh/h时才逐渐趋于平稳,占据车道1和3的车辆延误要小于占据车道1和2以及占据车道2和3的延误;在相同占道情况下,不同事故持续时间下的车辆延误随流量变化的趋势大体是一致的;当事故道路服务水平为D/E/F级,对向道路服务水平在A/B/C/D级时（事故占用内侧1个车道）,以及当对向道路服务水平在A/B/C级时（事故占据内侧2个车道）,进行借道超车均能有效减少事故路段车辆延误。