Comparison of Traffic Conflict Indicators for Crash Estimation using Peak Over Threshold Approach

Abstract

Traffic conflict techniques have drawn considerable research interest and a number of conflict indicators have been developed. Previous studies have qualitatively analyzed indicator differences from their definitions and empirically investigated their similarities based on identified traffic conflicts. This study compares conflict indicators from a validity perspective by comparing crashes estimated from conflict indicators with observed crashes. The peak over threshold (POT) approach was employed for crash estimation. Four commonly used indicators are compared: time to collision (TTC), modified time to collision (MTTC), post encroachment time (PET), and deceleration to avoid a crash (DRAC). Based on the conflict and crash data collected from three signalized intersections, POT models are developed for different thresholds in the appropriate ranges, and crash estimation methods were proposed for individual conflict indicators. The identified conflicts and estimated crashes associated with different indicators are then compared. The results show that traffic conflicts identified by the four indicators vary, with MTTC generating the most accurate crash estimates. The crash estimates from TTC and PET are also reasonable but there is a tendency of overestimation for TTC and underestimation for PET. The crash estimates of DRAC are all outside the confidence intervals of observed crashes, which is likely related to the uncertainty of vehicle braking capacity.