Ma Xiaoxiang, Chen Feng, Chen Suren
a Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering , Colorado State University , Fort Collins , Colorado.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2015;16(7):715-23. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2015.1010721. Epub 2015 Feb 9.
Mountainous (MT) highways usually exhibit complex geometry features such as steep gradients or sharp curves, which can cause considerably different driver behavior and vehicle performance compared to nonmountainous (NM) ones. In addition, MT highways experience adverse weather conditions more often than NM counterparts. We examine different characteristics of crash injury severity from an MT highway and an NM highway.
One major interstate highway with typical MT terrain and another one with NM terrain in Colorado were selected for this study. A comparative investigation about the impact on injury severity from MT and NM highways is conducted. Separate mixed logit models are estimated for both highways with 4-year detailed crash data.
Incorporating 2 major interstate highways from the same region into the comparative study offers some unique strength on investigating the impacts from different causes. As a result, the study provides better insights about contributing factors and associated mechanism for injury severity on MT highways. Substantial differences in the magnitude and direction of the influence of some contributing factors between MT and NM models are observed. Some new findings about injury severity on MT highways are made possible for the first time.
The findings in this study provide scientific guidance to potentially improve the current highway design and traffic management policy on thousands of miles of MT highways in the country.
山区高速公路通常呈现出复杂的几何特征，如陡坡或急转弯，与非山区高速公路相比，这可能导致驾驶员行为和车辆性能有很大差异。此外，山区高速公路比非山区高速公路更容易遭遇恶劣天气。我们研究了山区高速公路和非山区高速公路碰撞伤害严重程度的不同特征。
本研究选取了科罗拉多州一条具有典型山区地形的主要州际公路和另一条具有非山区地形的公路。对山区和非山区高速公路对伤害严重程度的影响进行了对比调查。利用4年的详细碰撞数据，分别为两条高速公路估计了混合logit模型。
将同一地区的两条主要州际公路纳入对比研究，在调查不同原因的影响方面具有独特优势。因此，该研究对山区高速公路伤害严重程度的影响因素和相关机制有了更深入的了解。观察到山区和非山区模型中一些影响因素的影响程度和方向存在显著差异。首次得出了一些关于山区高速公路伤害严重程度的新发现。
本研究结果为潜在改进该国数千英里山区高速公路的现行公路设计和交通管理政策提供了科学指导。
