Causal Factors for Intersection Crashes in Northern Virginia

About the project:

Intersections constitute a very small part of the highway and street network and still nearly half of the motor vehicle crashes occur there.  Driving near and through intersections is one of the most complex conditions that drivers will encounter. Previous studies have indicated that a significant percentage of crashes involving elderly drivers seem to occur at intersections.  The proposed study is principally focused on intersection related crashes.  Intersection crash data will be studied to delineate the important factors that influence these crashes.  The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintains several centralized database systems including crash database, roadway geometric characteristics (dimensions) database, and traffic operations database.  Although the crash data therein are not perfect, they contain a large amount of information.  Data mining methods seem to be particularly useful in extracting valuable knowledge embedded in such huge amounts of data.

Project Team

Co-Principal Investigators

Other Investigators