A comprehensive engineering analysis of motorcycle crashes in Maryland.

PDFTech ReportMD-10-SP909B4JSP909B4JMotorcycle accidentsTraffic safetyMarylandMaryland. State Highway Administration. Office of Policy & ResearchJeihani, MansourehMazloomdoust, GholamhosseinGhoseiri, KeivanMorgan State UniversityMaryland. State Highway Administration. Office of Policy & ResearchUS Transportation CollectionThe goal of this study was to identify recurring or common road characteristics of motorcycle crashesin Maryland from 1998 to 2007. Motorcycle crash data was obtained from the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration\ue2\u20ac\u2122s Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES), and roadinventory data was obtained from the Maryland State Highway Administration. Both sets of data wereintegrated, and fault tree analysis and variable selection methods were utilized to find the highestfrequency crash cases. A categorical principal component analysis was used to specify the minimumnumber of variables that explain most of the observed variance. In addition, ordinal logistic modelswere developed to estimate the number of motorcycle crashes for road segments within each roadclass. The results of the logistic ordinal regression analysis show that area type, median type, speedlimit, average annual daily traffic (AADT), international roughness index (IRI), and the number ofthrough lanes affect the number of motorcycle crashes on Maryland road segments. Interestingly,government control and shoulder type were shown to have no significant impact on the number ofmotorcycle crashes. The developed ordinal logistic model can also calculate the number ofmotorcycle crashes for each road characteristic. Engineers and safety officials can use this study\ue2\u20ac\u2122sresults to develop solutions for identified safety deficiencies