Abstract
This study describes traffic crash rates in selected multilane rural highways in Wasit governorate in Iraq. The main objective of this research is to investigate relationships between total, fatal crash rates and their kinds and factors such as hourly traffic flow and average spot speed.
 The study is based on data collected from two sources: police stations and traffic surveys. Three highways are selected to cover the locations of the accidents. The selection includes Kut – Suwera with five segments, Kut – ShekhSaad with three segments, and Kut – Hay with two segments multilane divided highways.
 Multiple linear regression analysis is applied to the data by using SPSS software to attain the relationships between the dependent variables and the independent variables in order to identify elements that are strongly correlated with crashes rates and severity.
 Seven regression models are developed which verify weak and strong statistical relationships between crashes types and average spot speed with hourly traffic flow respectively. As the hourly traffic flow of automobile grows, the need for safe traffic facilities also grown.
Highlights
Road traffic crashes represent a severe problem threatening the world societies, their well-beings, and economies
The R2 value of 0.709 for TAR model indicates that 70.9 percent of the variation in crash rates are explained by variation in traffic flow and spot speed values with correlation factor of (R= 0.842)
No significant relation at 5 % level is found for CAR, PDOAR, and IAR models with average spot speed and hourly traffic flow, whilst a good correlation and a significant relation is established for TAR, TOAR, RAR, and FAR models and can be adopted for this study
Summary
Road traffic crashes represent a severe problem threatening the world societies, their well-beings, and economies. In Iraq, like other countries, traffic crashes are one of the leading causes of death [1]. Is usually more than complex since more than one component must be considered when determining the cause of accidents. It may be the combination of two or sometimes all the three components: the driver, the roadway parameters and environment, and the vehicle. Many researches and studies have showed to conclude the relations between factors connected with crashes and crash characteristics [2 and 3]. The results of these researches have not been consistent, but a strong suggestions from their data that severity and crash
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