Analysis of Crash Severity for Hazard Material Transportation Using Highway Safety Information System Data

Abstract

Crash severity, as a major concern in the routing and scheduling of hazardous material shipments, has caused great loss of lives and property damage every year. Although abundant studies have been conducted to identify the relationship between different factors on crash severity, the analysis of the severity of hazard material transportation (HMT) crashes is very limited. Factors including road, vehicle, driver, and environment are not well considered in previous studies. This article analyzed the influence of various factors on HMT crash severity using Highway Safety Information System data. The random forest combined with the ordered logistic model is used for factor analysis. The results showed that annual average daily traffic, fatigues/asleep, number of lanes, speeding, adverse weather, and light are the six most important factors affecting HMT crash severity. Different from the non-HMT crashes, driver factor (e.g., driver age, gender, and drug/alcohol influence) was found to be not significantly related to crash severity. Speeding should be strictly forbidden for HMT drivers, considering the potential increased crash severity. Increasing the level of lighting can help reduce the number of severe crashes. The corresponding recommendations were provided based on the regression results.