Factors impacting injury severity of crashes involving traffic barrier end treatments

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify variables affecting the severity of crashes involving traffic barrier end treatments. A field inventory was conducted to collect type, system height (from the ground to the top), lateral offset (from the edge of pavement), and side-slope of over 11,000 end treatments in the state of Wyoming. Then, the data collected was combined with historical end treatment crashes using the Critical Analysis Reporting Environment (CARE) software. Finally, a severity model was developed for end treatment crashes, considering a random-parameters ordered logit model. Among the end treatment types considered in this study, the end anchorage type A-FLEAT 350 was least likely to result in severe injuries in crashes. On the other hand, turned-down end terminal and the end anchorage WY-BET were involved with higher injury severity in crashes. End treatments located on a flat roadside were found to be less severe, showing a parameter estimate equal to –1.10 in the crash severity model. End treatment crashes involving pickup also had a lower probability of causing a severe injury crash compared to the other vehicle types.

Keywords:

• Crash data analysis
• traffic barrier
• end treatment
• injury severity
• random-parameters ordered logit

Acknowledgments

The subject matter, all figures, tables, and equations not previously copyrighted by outside sources are copyrighted by WYDOT, State of Wyoming and the University of Wyoming. All rights reserved copy righted in 2016.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge that this work is part of project #RS03218 funded by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT).