Examining factors affecting driver injury severity in speeding-related crashes: a comparative study across driver age groups

Abstract

This paper investigates the factors influencing the severity of driver injuries in single-vehicle speeding-related crashes, by comparing different driver age groups. This study employed a random threshold random parameter hierarchical ordered probit model and analysed crash data from Thailand between 2012 and 2017. The findings showed that young drivers face a heightened fatality risk when speeding in passenger cars or pickup trucks, hinting at the role of inexperience and risk-taking behaviours. Old drivers exhibit an increased fatality risk when speeding, especially in rainy conditions, on flush median roads, and during evening peak hours, attributed to reduced reaction times and vulnerability to adverse weather. Both young and elderly drivers face escalated fatality risks when speeding on road segments lacking guardrails during adverse weather, with older drivers being particularly vulnerable in rainy conditions. All age groups show an elevated fatality risk when speeding on barrier median roads, underscoring the significant role of speeding, which increases crash impact and limits margins of error and manoeuvrability, thereby highlighting the need for safety measures focusing on driver behaviour. These findings underscore the critical imperative for interventions addressing not only driver conduct but also road infrastructure, collectively striving to curtail the severity of speeding-related crashes.

Keywords:

• Drivers’ age
• exceeding the speeding limit
• driving too fast for condition
• unobserved heterogeneity
• thresholds heterogeneity

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Suranaree University of Technology under grant number IRD7-704-65-12-34. The authors would like to thank the Department of Highways of Thailand for supporting the nationwide road traffic crash data.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Suranaree University of Technology under grant number IRD7-704-65-12-34