Overview of Wrong-Way Driving Fatal Crashes in the ...

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Overview of Wrong-Way Driving Fatal Crashes in the United States By Fatemeh Baratian-Ghorghi, Ph.D., Huaguo Z hou, Ph.D., P.E., and Jeffrey Shaw, P.E., PTP, PTOE

I

n this study, 8 years (2004–2011) of wrong-way driving (WWD) fatal crash data were extracted from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System database. The objectives of this study are to (1) provide an overview of the general trend of WWD fatal crashes in the United States; (2) discuss general charac-

teristics of WWD fatal crashes; and (3) delineate significant contributing factors (e.g., crash location, driver gender, age, and impairment). The results will serve to inform national and state efforts to reduce WWD fatal crashes. Wrong-way driving (WWD), by definition, happens when a driver, inadvertently or deliberately, drives in the opposite direction of traffic flow along a physically divided highway (freeway, expressway, or interstate highway) or its access ramps. Although WWD crashes are relatively infrequent compared to other crash types, the nature of the crashes—multiple vehicles traveling at very high speeds and usually head-on impact—creates a very high likelihood of fatal injury. As a matter of road safety, concerns about WWD have existed since the advent of access-controlled, divided highways. Precursors to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Green Book going back to the 1960s included language aimed at designers about how to mitigate for potential wrong-way maneuvers, and the current edition of the Green Book continues to touch on these issues.1 Additionally, various states have sporadically examined WWD crashes and related countermeasures within their respective jurisdictions since the 1970s. However, aside from a report on this topic by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), most recently in 2012, there is scant literature that addresses WWD on the national level in the United States. One previous analysis of WWD fatal crashes on U.S. highways based on the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database in 2008 revealed that about 350 fatalities and thousands of injuries were reported in the crashes caused by WWD.2 The objectives of this study are to give an overview of WWD fatal crashes in the United States., identify general trends, and determine key contributing factors.

Literature Review In the United States, few past studies focused on WWD crashes at the national level. Most of the existing research has been limited to experience within a particular state or jurisdiction. Taken together, the following studies help to identify likely WWD trends in the United States. ƒ A 2012 Special Investigation Report by NTSB summarized past investigations of nine fatal WWD crashes from different states going back to 1968.3 It concluded that impairment by alcohol is a major cause of WWD crashes. NTSB also issued recommendations to different transportation agencies and law enforcement on various countermeasures for reducing WWD crashes. Many states and local agencies have conducted studies to examine factors that contribute to WWD crashes, including the role of alcohol and/or drug involvement by drivers; the proportion of elderly drivers; the role of the driver’s sex; and the crash time, in order to determine appropriate engineering and enforcement countermeasures. Some of their findings are summarized as follows: ƒ Copelan reported that impaired drivers on California freeways accounted for almost 60 percent of all wrong-way crashes and almost 77 percent of fatal WWD crashes from 1983 to 1987.4 ƒ A Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) study found that 50 percent of the 30 WWD crashes in the I-82 Yakimato-Tri-Cities corridor study were alcohol- or drug-related.5 ƒ Researchers in Indiana determined that out of 77 WWD crashes in the 1970 to 1972 time period, 42 involved driving under the influence (DUI).6 www.ite.org

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Data Collection Crash Database FARS is a nationwide census of fatal traffic crashes maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Crashes that involve motor vehicles traveling on a public traffic way and cause the death of the driver, an occupant, or a non-occupant (such as pedestrians) within 30 days of the crash are included in the FARS database.10 Each state gathers data from various sources such as police crash reports, driver licensing files, vehicle records, death certificates, and emergency medical service reports, converts them into a common format, and transmits the data to NHTSA to expand the FARS database.

35000

25000 600

20000 15000

400

10000 5000

200

0 2004 2005 2006 2007 38444 39252 38648 37435 238 253 270 266

2008 34172 271

2009 2010 30862 30196 249 276

2011 29757 281

Figure 1. U.S. Overall Fatal Crashes vs. WWD Fatal Crashes 42

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WWD Data Analysis National Fatal Crashes and Fatalities According to the WWD data, an average of 269 fatal crashes resulting in 359 deaths occurred annually in the United States during the study period. In terms of magnitude, WWD fatal crashes and fatalities are comparable to those occurring at highway-rail grade crossings

1000

800

30000

To extract WWD-related data from the FARS database files, the following fields and corresponding attribute codes were used: 1. Roadway Function Class field, inclusive of attribute codes for Rural Principal Arterial Interstate, Rural Principal Arterial Other, Urban Principal Arterial Interstate, Urban Principal Arterial Other Freeways or Expressways, and Urban Other Principal Arterial; 2. Trafficway Flow field, inclusive of attribute codes for Divided Highway—Median Strip (Without Traffic Barrier), Divided Highway—Median Strip (With Traffic Barrier), One-way Trafficway, and Entrance/Exit Ramp; 3. Sequence of Events (1 through 6) fields, exclusive of attribute code for Cross Median/Centerline crashes; 4. Violations Charged (1 through 3) fields, inclusive of attribute codes for Driving Wrong Way on One-way Road and Driving on Left—Wrong Side of Road; and 5. Driver-Related Factors (1 through 4) fields, inclusive of attribute codes for Driving Wrong Way on One-way Traffic and Driving on Wrong Side of Road (Intentional or Unintentional). Cases that satisfy the criteria specified above are considered as WWD fatal crashes. Each case report consists of various characteristics of crashes, drivers, vehicles, and persons involved in the fatal crash, such as number of fatalities, crash location, driver condition, and driver age and gender. Data were extracted for an 8-year period covering the years 2004 through 2011.

50000 Total Number of Fatalities

Total number of fatal crashes WWD fatal crashes

Number of WWD Fatal Crashes

Total Number of Fatal Crashes

40000

Data Extraction Process

Total number of fatal crashes WWD fatal crashes

40000

1000

800

30000 600 20000 400

10000

200

0 2004 2005 2006 2007 42836 43510 42708 41259 397 336 372 370

2008 37423 370

2009 2010 33883 32999 334 336

Figure 2. U.S. Overall Fatalities vs. WWD Fatalities

2011 32367 357

Number of WWD Fatalities

ƒ Texas DOT used data from previous studies and conducted a detailed study of 4 years of WWD crashes on Texas freeways, and found that almost 61 percent of WWD crashes occurred as a result of using alcohol and/or drugs and 80 percent occurred at night.7 ƒ Zhou et al. examined WWD crashes on Illinois freeways over a 6-year period from 2004 to 2009 and concluded that a large portion of the 217 actual WWD crashes occurred on weekends; approximately 60 percent of the crashes were the fault of impaired drivers, and older drivers and male drivers were overrepresented in the WWD crashes compared to all other fatal crashes.8 ƒ At a substate level, an analysis of WWD crashes by the North Texas Tollway Authority revealed that from 2007 to 2009, almost 94 percent involved some degree of alcohol or controlled substance impairment and occurred between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.9 The literature review results imply that an overview of WWD fatal crashes at the national level will be valuable to better understand and define the challenges associated with WWD, as well as to compare and contrast WWD among the states. This overview will also serve as a catalyst for sustained efforts to reduce WWD fatalities in the United States.

make a positive difference by helping to align WWD with overall national traffic safety trends.

Table 1. U.S. WWD Fatal Crashes by State (2004–2011)

Table 2. U.S. WWD Fatalities by State (2004–2011)

State-Level Experience

Average Frequency

Percent of U.S. Total

1%

5

1%

4

1%

3

1%

10% Utah

5

1%

8% West Virginia

5

1%

3

14

4% Connecticut

4

1%

4% Iowa

Missouri

13

4% Iowa

4

1%

9 8

1%

Illinois

12

3% Kentucky

4

1%

1%

Georgia

11

3% Massachusetts

4

1%

Illinois

3

1%

Mississippi

11

3% Oregon

4

1%

Georgia

3% Indiana

2

1%

Tennessee

11

3% Idaho

3

1%

38

State 14% Minnesota

California

26

10% West Virginia

Florida

21

8% Utah

Pennsylvania

11

4% Connecticut

Missouri

10

Mississippi Tennessee

Percent of U.S. Total

Percent of U.S. Total

4

State Texas

Average Frequency

Average Frequency

Sorting the data by state reveals that WWD fatal crashes and fatalities are spread very unevenly across the United States, with some states experiencing none at all. However, it is notable that the top 10 states account for more than 50 percent of the national totals. Table 1 lists the fatal crashes by state, and Table 2 lists the fatalities by state in the United States.

State Texas

Average Frequency

Percent of U.S. Total

(HRGX). However, unlike the HRGX experience, WWD has not been declining over the years. Figures 1 and 2 compare the overall trends of traffic fatal crashes and fatalities to those that are specifically WWD-related in the United States over the 8-year study period. Figures 1 and 2 both illustrate that overall traffic fatal crashes and fatalities declined substantially in the study period, decreasing about 4 percent per year on average, while WWD fatal crashes and fatalities remained fairly constant. That there has been no sustained, coordinated national campaign to address WWD may somewhat explain this difference. It also suggests that such an effort could

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State 14% South Carolina

California

35

Florida

28

1%

Pennsylvania

3

1%

3% Kentucky

3

3% Massachusetts

3

8

3% Oregon

8

Arizona

8

3% Wisconsin

2

1%

Arizona

10

3% Indiana

3

1%

Alabama

7

2% Idaho

2

1%

Alabama

9

3% New Mexico

3

1%

Michigan

6

2% Montana

1

1%

Michigan

8

2% Wisconsin

3

1%

New Jersey

6

2% Rhode Island

1

0%

Oklahoma

8

2% Delaware

2

1%

Oklahoma

6

2% Delaware

1

0%

Louisiana

7

2% Montana

2

1%

Washington

6

2% New Mexico

1

0%

New Jersey

7

2% Hawaii

1

0.3%

Virginia

5

2% Hawaii

1

0%

New York

7

2% Maine

1

0.3%

Louisiana

5

2% Wyoming

1

0%

North Carolina

7

2% New Hampshire

1

0.3%

North Carolina

5

2% New Hampshire

1

0%

Virginia

7

2% Rhode Island

1

0.3%

Kansas

5

2% South Dakota

1

0%

Washington

7

2% South Dakota

1

0.3%

Colorado

5

2% Maine

1

0%

Colorado

6

2% Vermont

1

0.3%

New York

5

2% Vermont

0

0%

Kansas

6

2% Wyoming

1

0.3%

Ohio

4

2% North Dakota

0

0%

Ohio

6

2% North Dakota

0

0.0%

South Carolina

4

2% Alaska

0

0%

Arkansas

5

1% Alaska

0

0.0%

Nevada

4

1% Nebraska

0

0%

Maryland

5

1% Nebraska

0

0.0%

Maryland

4

1% District of Columbia

0

0%

Minnesota

5

1% District of Columbia

0

0.0%

Arkansas

4

1%

Nevada

5

1% www.ite.org

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To measure the severity of this type of crash, the number of lost lives, the most serious consequence of the traffic crash, per WWD fatal crash was calculated. Analyses showed that on average four persons die in every three WWD fatal crashes in the United States (359/269). Another measure used to assess the significance of the WWD issue is the frequency of its fatalities out of the total number of crash fatalities in each state. For the study period

Percentage

Percentage

Percentage

Table 3. WWD Fatalities as a Percentage of Total Fatalities for States (2004–2011)

(2004–2011), the average number of total freeway fatalities was 15,738 in the United States. Accordingly, WWD fatalities account for about 2.3 percent of total fatalities occurring on freeways as a national average. Fatality rates vary widely between states; for example, there were 48 WWD fatalities per 1,000 people killed in fatal crashes in Mississippi as compared to no WWD fatality in the District of Columbia (see Table 3). (Using Mississippi as the example, a total of 1,810 traffic fatalities occurred in the state during the 8-year study period, of which 87 fatalities were WWD-related, which is 4.8 percent of the total and the highest among all states.)

Crash Locations The location of WWD fatal crashes can first be characterized as rural or urban. The data analyzed for this study, summarized in Table 4, show that urban roads represent a higher proportion of WWD fatal crashes, with about 57 percent occurring on urban roads and the remaining 43 percent occurring on rural roads. In contrast, according to the Federal Highway Administration, only about 24 percent of highway miles are characterized as urban, as shown in Table 5.11 It is important to note that for classifying roads, the designation of “urban” includes urbanized and small urban areas. These relationships are illustrated graphically in Figure 3.

State Mississippi

State 4.8% Illinois

State 2.6% Florida

1.9%

Delaware

3.8% Massachusetts

2.6% California

1.8%

Utah

3.7% Idaho

2.4% North Carolina

1.7%

West Virginia

3.7% Vermont

2.4% Maryland

1.7%

Texas

3.6% Louisiana

2.3% Ohio

1.6%

Nevada

3.5% Iowa

2.3% Montana

1.6%

Indiana

3.4% Alabama

2.3% South Carolina

1.4%

Washington

3.3% Hawaii

2.3% South Dakota

1.4%

Kansas

3.2% Colorado

2.2% Kentucky

1.3%

Driver Characteristics

Rhode Island

3.2% Arizona

2.2% Wisconsin

1.3%

Impaired Driving

New Hampshire 3.1% New Jersey

2.1% New York

1.2%

Missouri

3.1% Georgia

2.1% Wyoming

1.1%

Minnesota

3.0% Michigan

2.1% New Mexico

1.1%

Connecticut

3.0% Virginia

2.0% North Dakota

0.5%

Oklahoma

2.8% Arkansas

2.0% Alaska

0.3%

Pennsylvania

2.7% Maine

0.1%

Tennessee

2.7% Oregon

2.0% Nebraska 2.0% District of Columbia

According to Traffic Safety Facts (TSF), published annually by NHTSA, a driver (the operator of any motor vehicle, including a motorcycle) is considered to be alcohol-impaired if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) equals or exceeds 0.08 percent.12 Furthermore, TSF shows that the percentage of drivers in fatal crashes with a BAC≥0.08 percent was reported to be 21 percent and 22 percent for 2001 and 2010, respectively, while the percentage of fatalities where driver BAC was ≥0.08 percent was 31 percent in both 2001 and 2010. Each year there is a large

0.0%

Table 4. WWD Fatal Crashes by Rural and Urban Areas (U.S.) 2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Average

Percentage

Rural Areas

127

97

115

110

117

116

126

115

117

43.5%

Urban Areas

156

156

155

156

154

133

150

166

152

56.5%

Total

283

253

270

266

271

249

276

281

269

100%

Table 5. Highway Miles by Rural and Urban Areas (U.S.) 2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

Average

Percentage

Rural Areas

3,091,733

3,079,757

3,003,441

2,990,482

2,980,333

3,029,149

75.7%

Urban Areas

859,368

901,913

994,021

1,042,526

1,079,007

975,367

24.3%

Total

3,951,101

3,981,670

3,997,462

4,033,008

4,059,340

4,004,516

100%

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100 Percentage of highway miles Percentage of WWD crash

80

60

40

20

0 Rural Areas

Urban Areas

Figure 3. Percentages of Highway Miles and WWD Crashes by Rural and Urban Areas amount of missing data (about 60 percent) for the Alcohol Test Result variable in FARS due to drivers’ refusal to submit to an alcohol test.12,13 As part of this WWD study, data from the FARS Driver and Person reports were analyzed for information related to driver intoxication by or consumption of alcohol or drugs. Specifically, the following FARS fields and attributes were examined: 1. From the Person report, inclusive of the Police-Reported Alcohol Involvement and Drug Involvement, which is based on the investigating officer’s judgment; 2. From the Driver report, inclusive of the Investigating Alcohol Test Result, which is restricted to drivers with objective BAC measurement cited by the investigating officer; 3. From the Driver report, inclusive of the Driver-Related Factor 5, which is used if the driver was reported to be Under the Influence of Alcohol, Drugs, or Medication; and

4. From the Driver report, inclusive of Violations Charged Codes for Driving While Intoxicated (Alcohol or Drugs), BAC Above Limit (Any Detectable BAC for CDLs), Driving While Impaired, Driving Under Influence of Substance Not Intended to Intoxicate, Drinking While Operating, Illegal Possession of Alcohol or Drugs, Driving With Detectable Alcohol, and Alcohol, Drug, or Impairment Violations Generally. When one or more of the above conditions are satisfied for a driver involved in a WWD fatal crash, it is counted as an impaired driving or DUI event. The frequency and percentage of DUI-related WWD fatal crashes from the study period are provided in Table 6. The long-term averages suggest that about 58 percent of WWD crashes are DUI-related, which is nearly twice the rate of 31 percent alcohol or drug involvement for all fatal crashes as reported by NHTSA. Past studies for various states and various years reported similar results.3,7,9 This affirms that impaired driving is a major factor in WWD fatal crashes and suggests that efforts to curb WWD should include education and enforcement activities targeting DUI behaviors, in addition to deploying engineering countermeasures.

Gender and Age Strategies to improve traffic safety are often informed by human factors such as gender and age. This information also tends to be the most commonly available demographic data in crash reports.14 Therefore, a focus on these variables is to be expected. Sorting the WWD fatal crash data by gender reveals that during the study period, male drivers outnumbered female drivers by more than 2 to 1, as shown in Table 7. Further analysis that considered gender and DUI status found that impaired male drivers outnumbered impaired female drivers by nearly 3 to 1. While these findings are consistent with other past state-level research indicating that males are generally more likely to be involved in fatal crashes, the differences are even more pronounced for WWD.

Table 6. U.S. WWD Fatal Crashes and Drivers Under the Influence 2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Average

DUI

131

147

156

170

162

151

150

168

154

Total

283

253

270

266

271

249

276

281

269

Percentage

46%

58%

58%

64%

60%

61%

54%

60%

58%

Table 7. U.S. WWD Fatal Crashes by Gender 2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Average

Percentage

Male

194

183

204

185

204

175

175

205

191

71%

Female

89

70

66

81

67

74

101

76

78

29%

Total

283

253

270

266

271

249

276

281

269

100%

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When sorting the WWD fatal crash data by age, differentiating between “younger” and “older” drivers was important, as some previous WWD studies have found age-related overrepresentation. Therefore, the following three groupings were used: Younger than Age 24, Ages 24 to 64, and Older than Age 64. This analysis shows that about 15 percent of wrong-way drivers are age 65 or older, as indicated in Table 8. In their report, NTSB reported the same percentage of wrong-way drivers over the age of 70 between 2004 and 2009.3 A broader review of U.S. freeway fatal crashes for the same 8-year period shows that an average of just over 10 percent involved an older driver. Comparing these results suggests that older drivers are overrepresented in WWD fatal crashes. Cooner et al. and Zhou et al. found similar results for different data years in Illinois and Texas. 7,8 For the other age groups, there does not appear to be the same extent of overrepresentation.The “younger” driver age group (younger than age 24) represents 18 percent of WWD fatal crashes, as shown in Table 8, and represents 19 percent of all freeway fatal crashes for the same time period. The further driver characteristic-based analysis accounted for all three of the above variables—gender, age, and DUI, and

the results are provided in Table 9. According to these results, there were significantly fewer “older” drivers that were involved in WWD fatal crashes and also impaired—only 50 out of a total of 329 older driver WWD fatal crashes, or 16 percent. However, nearly two-thirds of WWD fatal crash drivers under the age of 65 were also reported as impaired by alcohol or drugs. An earlier study that examined data for the years 1982–2000 also reported that drivers age 65 and above had the lowest proportion of alcohol-involved fatal crashes.13 These findings can serve to inform the DUI education and enforcement strategies for reducing WWD fatal crashes, suggesting that a focus on age groups younger than 65 would be most beneficial. Conversely, since WWD fatal crashes with older drivers tend to be less likely to also be DUI, considering engineering countermeasures that are known to benefit older drivers may be quite helpful in mitigating WWD risk.

Conclusions This article summarizes the results of a study on WWD fatal crashes and fatalities in the United States for an 8-year period (2004–2011) to give an overview of general WWD-related fatal crash trends and characteristics. The analyses revealed that

Table 8. U.S. WWD Fatal Crashes by Age Age of Drivers

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Average

Percentage

Age65 Total

36 283

35 253

45 270

32 266

53 271

29 249

53 276

46 281

41 269

15% 100%

Table 9. U.S. WWD Fatal Crashes by Age, Gender, and DUI DUI

Non-DUI

Male

Female

Male

2004

Age Age 65 Age 65 Age 65 Age 65 11

although the total numbers of traffic fatal crashes and fatalities has fallen by roughly 4 percent per year, the percentages of WWD fatal crashes and fatalities have remained nearly unchanged over the same period. It was found that Texas, California, and Florida account for the highest number of WWD fatal crashes and fatalities and represent almost one-third of the national totals. Several additional valuable findings: ƒ The proportions of WWD fatal crashes that occurred on urban and rural roads were 57 percent and 43 percent, respectively; ƒ The rate of impaired driving for WWD fatal crashes is about 58 percent, which is nearly twice the rate of 31 percent for all types of fatal crashes; ƒ Across all age groups, and whether impaired or not, involvement rates for WWD fatal crashes are higher for male drivers versus female drivers at a ratio of more than 2 to 1; and ƒ Older drivers appear to be overrepresented, accounting for 15 percent of WWD fatal crashes and just over 10 percent of all freeway-related fatal crashes. The results of this study are intended to serve as an important resource for national and state efforts to reduce WWD incidents and deaths. The authors hope that the understanding of WWD will continue to evolve through further research of traffic safety data, as well as robust evaluations of safety strategies designed to specifically target WWD. itej

References 1. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. A Policy on the Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. Washington, DC: AASHTO, 2011. 2. North Texas Tollway Authority. “Keeping NTTA Roadways Safe: Wrong-Way Driver Task Force Staff Analysis.” Presented to the NTTA Board of Directors, September 23, 2009. 3. National Transportation Safety Board. Wrong-Way Driving. Highway Special Investigation Report. NTSB/SIR-12/01, PB2012-917003, Notation 8453. December 11, 2012. 4. Copelan, J. Prevention of Wrong-Way Accidents on Freeways. Report No. FHWA/CA-TE-89-2. California Department of Transportation, Traffic Operations Division, 1989, p. 95. 5. Moler, S. “Stop. You’re Going the Wrong Way!” Public Roads, September/ October 2002, pp. 24–29 [Online]. Available: www.tfhrc.gov/ pubrds/02sep/06.htm. [Accessed September 19, 2013.] 6. Scifres, P. and R. Loutzenheiser. “Wrong-Way Movements on Divided Highways.” Purdue University Joint Highway Research Project No. JHRP13–75, 1975, p. 46. 7. Cooner, S.A., A.S. Cothron, and S.E. Ranft. Countermeasures for Wrong-way Movement on Freeways: Guidelines and Recommended Practices. FHWA/TX04/4128-2. Texas A&M Transportation Institute, January 2004.

8. Zhou H., J. Zhao, R. Fries, L. Wang, and M.R. Gahrooei. “Investigation of Contributing Factors Regarding Wrong-way Driving on Freeways Final Report.” Submitted to ICT, June 2012. 9. Kaminski Leduc, J.L. Wrong Way Driving Countermeasures. Old Research Report 2008-R-0491. September 22, 2008. 10. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Agency Procedures for Release and Security of Research Data Collected Under the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Washington, DC: March 2004. 11. Federal Highway Administration. 2010 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions & Performance, “Chapter 2: System Characteristics.” [Online]. Available: www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2010cpr/ chap2.htm#body. [Accessed September 19, 2013.] 12. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts, 2010 Data: State Alcohol-Impaired Driving Estimates. DOT HS 811 612. April 2012. 13. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Transitioning to Multiple Imputation—A New Method to Impute Missing Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) values in FARS. Technical Report, DOT HS 809 403. National Center for Statistics and Analysis Research and Development, January 2002. 14. Haight, F.A. “The Place of Safety Research in Transportation Research.” Transportation Research, Vol. 19 (1985): 373–376.

Huaguo Zhou, Ph.D., P.E. is an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Auburn University. He earned a doctorate of philosophy degree in civil engineering from the University of South Florida. He is a fellow of ITE and a licensed professional engineer in Florida. Jeffrey Shaw, P.E., PTP, PTOE manages the Intersection Safety Program for the Federal Highway Administration, Office of Safety. He is a registered professional engineer in Illinois and has been board-certified as a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer and Professional Transportation Planner. He is a member of ITE and past chair of the Transportation Safety Council. Fatemeh Baratian-Ghorghi, Ph.D., S.M.ASCE is currently a doctoral student at Auburn University. She works under the supervision of Dr. Huaguo Zhou. Her main research interests include traffic operations and safety, travel behavior modeling, statistical modeling of crash data, and intelligent transportation systems. She is a student member of ITE.

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