Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Kadavagere, Nirup Hanumantharayappa
Author's Email Address	knirup@eng.fsu.edu
URN	etd-11242003-223938
Title	Comparison of Fatal Traffic Crashes in Southern and Northern Regions of the State of Florida
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Lisa K. Spainhour Committee Chair John O. Sobanjo Committee Member Primus V. Mtenga Committee Member
Keywords	Underrepresenation Factor Overrepresentation Factor Fatal Crashes
Date of Defense	2003-11-12
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The highway fatality rate in the state of Florida is very high, with 40 percent more facilities per vehicle mile than the national average in 1999. Crashes involving trucks are fatal more than crashes involving passenger cars. The State Safety Office of the Florida Department of Transportation proposed conducting a review and analysis of traffic fatalities and truck crashes on the state roads of Florida to tackle these problems. The goal of this project was to go beyond the data currently available from the Florida traffic crash report (FTCR) and homicide reports to create a comprehensive database of contributing causes of fatal crashes. The outcome of the study identified engineering and behavioral issues. The results will be used to guide future design standards as well as to develop education and enforcement programs. The objective of the research was to provide the analysis of the causes of fatal traffic crashes and traffic fatalities. The major tasks were: 1. Identifying data elements deemed to be potential contributors for fatal crashes. 2. Investigating all fatal crashes in the year 2000 for the study regions and fatal crashes involving trucks for the year 1998 and 1999 in the study regions. 3. For each crash, identifying factors contributing to both the crash and the fatalities. 4. Developing a computerized database and querying tool. This report contains the results of a component of the statewide study. The primary purpose of the study was to compare the nature of crashes in two different regions. One region in northern Florida consisted of six counties; Suwannee, Madison, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette and Alachua counties in FDOT District 2; the second region was southern, consisting of Miami-Dade County in FDOT District 6. The southern region is primarily urban, with over 26 million daily vehicle miles traveled, while the northern region is primarily rural, with fewer than 8 million daily vehicle miles travelled. Both regions have approximately 2500 lane miles. Parameters considered included driver behavior, roadway characteristics and other factors, contributing to both crashes and fatalities. It was concluded that the primary contributing factor in the majority of the fatal crashes was human error, including driver errors in negotiating intersections and pedestrians violating the right of way of the vehicle. Driver defects, vehicle defects, and weather were not found to be common in the crashes in both the regions. Crashes occurred most frequently at intersections in both the regions. There was also significant number of run-off the road crashes in both the regions. Male drivers and young drivers were involved in fatal crashes most frequently. Most of the pedestrian crashes in the study occurred in the southern region. Intersection crashes in the southern region frequently involved left turn crashes, often where the driver misjudged the gap in the oncoming traffic. Rear-end crashes were found to be more common in the northern region. Overall, forty-four percent of pedestrians in the fatal were found to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs. In the southern region, approximately one in every four at-fault drivers were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Influence of alcohol and drugs was less common in the northern region found to be common. Twenty-six percent of at-fault drivers in the northern region were below age 21, compared with less than 8 percent in the southern region. On the other hand, 58 percent of the 51-60 year old drivers in the southern region were found at-fault, compared with only 24 percent in the northern region. Eighty-six percent of the at-fault drivers were from the county of the crash in the southern region whereas only 34 percent of at-fault drivers in northern region were from the county of the crash. Heavy truck crashes are overrepresented in northern region: the most common type of crashes involving trucks were rear-end crashes. A total of sixty percent and forty-seven percent of occupants in the fatal crashes were using seat belts or child restraints in the southern and northern regions respectively. Wearing seat belts reduced the likelihood of dying in the crash from 73 percent to 45 percent
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