An Analysis on Traffic Accidents on Undivided Expressway in Cold and Snow Area

Some fatal accidents occur on 2-lane expressways in cold and snowy areas in Japan and having no rigid median strip causes more damage to passenger in cars. It is very important to find effective countermeasures that reduce the number of these tragic traffic accidents. However, general characteristics and factors of traffic accidents on undivided expressways have not been clarified sufficiently yet. The authors apply a discriminant analysis to traffic accidents data for 5 years in order to find some crucial factors for traffic accidents especially in snow cold region. Two categories, fatal or serious and slight injury, are used as a dependent variable. Conversely, weather, road circumstance, and cruising speed are used as independent variables. Some useful countermeasures are also proposed to reduce the miserable traffic accidents on undivided expressways.