An Overview of Rural Speed Crashes in North Carolina 1994-1999

008088552000PDFTech ReportTraffic crashesRural highwaysTraffic speedDesign standardsDriversDrunk driversFemalesHighway curvesInjuriesMalesRan off road accidentsRear end collisionsRural areasSecondary roadsSpeedingNorth CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillHunter, William W.Stewart, J. RichardVan Heusen-Causey, SarahNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-AccidentsNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Speed LimitsNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway SafetyNTL-REFERENCES AND DIRECTORIES-StatisticsAGR-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYUS Transportation CollectionAn analysis of speed-related crashes in rural areas of North Carolina resulted in these key findings: 44% of speed-related crashes took place on secondary roads, where roadway design standards are lower than for other types of roadways. Speed-related crashes were overrepresented on curved sections of roadway. Two of the most frequent speed-related crash types were ran-off-road (48%) and rear-end (40%), together accounting for nearly 90% of the total. Compared to all rural crashes, speed-related crashes resulted in higher percentages of Type A (incapacitating injuries that will prevent normal activities for more than 24 hours), Type B (non-incapacitating injuries that will not prevent daily activities for more than 24 hours), and Type C (complaint of pain or momentary unconsciousness) injuries. Young male drivers, ages 16-25 years old, were more often charged with a speed-related violation in these crashes than any other male or female age group. Young females were also overrepresented as speeding drivers, but to a lesser extent. For crashes occurring on rural secondary roads, 36% of the speeding drivers were young males. Whereas 5% of all drivers in crashes were classified as having been drinking, this increased to 10% for speeding drivers.93