Examining the who, what, and how of risky driving related crashes in residential areas

Abstract

This study contributes to efforts towards creating livable communities, by identifying and proposing countermeasures for factors that are associated with residential area crashes. Three risky driving pre-crash actions: driving under the influence of alcohol or drug, aggressive driving, and speeding were considered. The study used residential area crash data from Alabama, USA and developed a latent class multinomial logit model to identify factors associated with the pre-crash actions. The results showed that male drivers had 0.44% and 2.09% higher chances to be at fault in driving under the influence of alcohol or drug and aggressive driving crashes, respectively, while female drivers were found to have a 1.82% higher likelihood to be at fault in speeding-related crashes but less likely to be at fault in aggressive driving or driving under the influence of alcohol or drug-related crashes in residential areas. Speeding and driving under the influence of were found to be the leading contributing factors in rural area residential crashes whereas aggressive driving was more pronounced in urban areas. These findings provide a basis for the implementation of appropriate crash countermeasures to reduce residential area crashes, as part of efforts geared towards promoting community safety and livability across the state.