Exploring Determinants of Traffic Accident Severity Using Empirical Data

Danying Wei

2025

Abstract

Traffic accidents have become a major global public safety concern, as they affect individuals and their families and hinder the development of a country’s economy. This study uses empirical data from Nashville to investigate the influence of individual characteristics and external environmental factors on the severity of traffic accidents. A multiple linear regression model and a nonlinear model are employed to examine the relationships between accident severity and various factors, including periods, weather conditions, illumination, collision types, and hit-and-run behaviour. The results indicate that accidents occurring during early morning, evening, and night are more severe; weekend accidents are more serious than weekday accidents. Interestingly, severe weather such as snow and blowing snow reduces accident severity, while foggy and cloudy conditions increase it. Poor visibility conditions, such as darkness, dawn, and dusk, significantly elevate accident severity. Moreover, head-on collisions and hit-and-run behaviour are strongly associated with more severe outcomes. These findings contribute to improving traffic safety policies and provide practical implications for accident prevention. Future studies may consider incorporating more complex models and a broader range of variables to enhance predictive performance and policy relevance.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Wei D. (2025). Exploring Determinants of Traffic Accident Severity Using Empirical Data. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics - Volume 1: ICEML; ISBN 978-989-758-775-7, SciTePress, pages 672-680. DOI: 10.5220/0013852100004719

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceml25,
author={Danying Wei},
title={Exploring Determinants of Traffic Accident Severity Using Empirical Data},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics - Volume 1: ICEML},
year={2025},
pages={672-680},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013852100004719},
isbn={978-989-758-775-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics - Volume 1: ICEML
TI - Exploring Determinants of Traffic Accident Severity Using Empirical Data
SN - 978-989-758-775-7
AU - Wei D.
PY - 2025
SP - 672
EP - 680
DO - 10.5220/0013852100004719
PB - SciTePress