Effect of driver, roadway, collision, and vehicle characteristics on crash severity: a conditional logistic regression approach

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine the factors that appear to have a higher potential for serious injury or death of drivers in traffic accidents in Turkey, such as collision type, roadway surface, vehicle speed, alcohol/drug use, and restraint use. Driver crash severity is the dependent variable of this study with two categories, fatal and non-fatal. Due to the binary nature of the dependent variable, a conditional logistic regression analysis was found suitable. Of the 16 independent variables obtained from Turkish police accident reports, 11 variables were found most significantly associated with driver crash severity. They are age, education level, restraint use, roadway condition, roadway type, time of day, collision location, collision type, number and direction of vehicles, vehicle speed, and alcohol/drug use. This study found that belted drivers aged 18–25 years involving two vehicles travelling in the same direction, in an urban area, during the daytime, and on an avenue or a street have better chances of survival in traffic accidents.