Modeling and Examining the Teenage and Adult Freeway Crash Risks and Injury Severities in Washington State

Abstract

Teenage and adult drivers demonstrate different characteristics in terms of significant crash factors, collision risks, and injury severities on freeways. It is well recognized that reducing the number of freeway crashes involving teenage drivers, the most dangerous driver group, is of practical importance. A substantial understanding of teenage crash characteristics, injury severities, and significant attributes is required to develop an effective means of reducing teenage driver crash risks. In this study, the transportation econometric models, negative binomial regression models, were developed to analyze teenage and adult crashes using the data collected from Washington State freeways from 2004 through 2007. This research also explores the differences in crash injury severity between teenage and adult drivers. Three multivariate binary logit models of injury severity are established for the general driver group, the teenage driver group, and the adult driver group. The results indicate that although the majority of significant factors are similar for teenage and adult drivers, their slight difference is particularly useful in developing effective safety solutions addressing the teenage crashes. Additionally, a series of important behavioral differences between teenage and adult drivers are identified to facilitate the roadway design and injury-mitigation research.