RELATIONSHIP OF ACCIDENT RATES AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENTS WITH HOURLY VOLUMES

Many studies have investigated the relationship between traffic volume and accidents. This paper shows how the combined weight of evidence indicates that average daily traffic is related to accident rates. It shows how three different studies, conducted by Schoppert, Woo, and Head, attempt to develop by partial and multiple correlation techniques the relationships between roadway features and accidents. It shows that average daily traffic was so significantly related to accident occurrence and to other roadway characteristics that it was a good predictor of accident rates. It would seem logical to assume that if average daily traffic volume is related to accident rates, then hourly volumes would be also be related to accident rates.