An Analysis on Traffic Accidents on Undivided Expressway in Cold and Snow Area

Abstract

Some fatal accidents occur on two lanes expressway in cold and snow area in Japan and no rigid median strip causes more damage to passenger in cars. It is very important to find effective countermeasures that reduce the number of these tragic traffic accidents. However, general characteristics and factors of traffic accidents on undivided expressway have not been clarified sufficiently yet. We apply a discriminant analysis to traffic accidents data for five years in order to find some crucial factors for traffic accidents especially in snow cold region. Two categories, fatal or serious and slight injury, are used as a dependent variable. On the other hand, weather, road circumstance, and cruising speed are used as independent variables. We also propose some useful countermeasures to reduce the miserable traffic accidents on undivided expressway.