Influence of physical road characteristics on road crashes

The objectives of this project were to find correlations between the 'tidal flow' of traffic\nand the frequency of road crashes, as well as between various broad scale road\nenvironment factors and the frequency of road crashes. This was achieved through an in\ndepth examination of crash data for the Southern District, as well as the combined data\nof the areas covered by the Toowoomba City Council and the Gatton Shire Council.\nWhen examining the data for correlations, the traffic flow and crash rate along with\nvarious road environment characteristics were considered.\nIt was found that a greater traffic flow did not mean a greater crash rate would result\nwith the time periods with lower traffic flow having higher crash rates. However,\ncorrelations were established between various road environment factors and the\nfrequency of road crashes. Road environment characteristics that were found to\ninfluence the amount of road crashes included the seal width, pavement width,\nformation width, the speed limit zones and the AADT of the road. These correlations\ncan now be used in the prediction of the likelihood of crash zones of roads.