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Can traffic conflicts be used to estimate road safety?

Author(s): Emanuele Sacchi, Tarek Sayed

Slidedeck Presentation Only (no paper submitted):

2A Sacchi_Can Traffic Conflicts be Used to Estimate Road Safety

Abstract: :

Road safety evaluations using collision data rely on solid statistical techniques developed over several decades of research. However, the reliance on collision data can have several shortcomings related to the quality and nature of collision data, as well as the need for prolonged observational periods. Therefore, there has been considerable recent interest in using surrogate safety measures such as traffic conflicts for road safety studies.

The presentation will focus on two case studies where (1) the results of a collision-based evaluation were compared with the results of a traffic conflict-based evaluation based on the same set of treatment intersections (2) the statistical techniques developed for collision-based safety evaluations were implemented using in this case surrogates such as traffic conflicts. The results demonstrated (1) remarkable similarities between the overall and the location specific reductions in conflicts and collisions - which provide support for using traffic conflicts in road safety studies; (2) that the statistical techniques applied to collision data can also be applied to traffic conflicts.