Development of Severity Distribution Table for Wrong-Way Driving Crash Using Highway Safety Information System Crash Database

Abstract

The wrong way driving (WWD) crash differs significantly from all other crashes in terms of severity. Despite much valuable research on WWD crash severity, there is no robust study on developing a WWD crash severity distribution table that could be used for crash predictive methods by the Highway Safety Manual (HSM). HSM has severity distribution tables for all crashes that are used in quantitative safety analyses. Using the same tables for quantitative WWD crash analysis may produce inaccurate results since WWD crash severity is significantly different. Current severity distribution tables in the HSM have been prepared using Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) crash database. Unfortunately, a structured guideline that could extract true WWD crashes from the HSIS database is still absent. Therefore, the current study attempts to extract true WWD crash from HSIS crash database. And using the extracted WWD crash database, the study proposes different WWD crash severity distribution tables for freeway facilities. Finally, the study shows practical applications of extracted WWD crash database and proposed WWD crash severity distribution tables. These applications are expected to help future researchers of WWD crashes, safety analysts and transportation policymakers.