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Affiliation
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Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji University , 4800 Cao An Road, Shanghai , 201804 , P. R. China. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: Distinguish from the traditional perspectives in crash analyses, which examined the effects of geometric design features, traffic factors, and other relevant attributes on the crash frequencies of roadway entities, our study focuses on exploring the effects of highway safety laws, as well as socio-cultural characteristics on fatal crashes across states.
METHODS: The law and regulation related data are collected from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO), and Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). A variety of socio-demographic characteristics are obtained from the United States Census Bureau. Other than the laws and socio-demographic factors, culture related factors and other attributes from variety resources are also considered and incorporated in the modeling process. Those data and fatal crash counts were collected for the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the United States and have been analyzed by using zero-truncated Negative Binomial (ZTNB) regression models.
RESULTS: The results show that, in law and regulation related factors, the usages of speed camera, no hand-held cell phone ban, limited hand-held cell phone ban, and no text messaging ban are found to have significant effects on fatal crashes. Regarding the socio-cultural characteristics, married-couple families with both husband and wife in the labor force are found to be associated with lower crash frequencies, the ratios of workers traveled to work by carpooled, drove alone, the ratio of workers worked outside county of residence, language other than English and speak English not good, and the number of licensed drivers are found to be associated with higher crash frequencies.
CONCLUSIONS: Through reviewing and modeling existing state highway safety laws and socio-cultural characteristics, the results reveal new insights that could influence policy making. In addition, the results would benefit amending existing laws and regulations and provide testimony about highway safety issues before lawmakers consider new legislation.
Language: en |