Investigating the effects of monthly weather variations on Connecticut freeway crashes from 2011 to 2015

Abstract Introduction The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of monthly weather conditions on traffic crash experience on freeways, considering the interactions between weather, traffic volumes, and roadway conditions. Methods Data from the state of Connecticut from 2011 to 2015 were used. Random parameters negative binomial models with first-order, autoregressive covariance were estimated for representative types of freeway crashes (front-to-rear, sideswipe-same-direction, and fixed-object), most severe crashes (i.e., fatal and injury crashes), and non-injury crashes (i.e., property-damage-only crashes). Results Major findings are that variations in monthly traffic volumes, roadway geometry, and weather conditions explain much of the variations in monthly traffic crashes. Time effects exist in the panel monthly data for all types of crashes. Taking into account this effect improves model prediction results. When the raw weather measures are highly correlated, using dimension reduction techniques helps to extract more interpretable weather factors. By considering the interaction effects between roadway condition variables, additional findings were found. In general, lower temperature, more heavy fog days, decreased precipitation, lower wind speed, higher monthly traffic volumes, and narrower inside shoulder were found to be associated with higher monthly crashes. The effects of area type and outside shoulder width change dramatically as the number of through lanes changes. Practical applications The findings of this research could help researchers and general readers gain a better understanding of the effects of monthly weather conditions and other roadway factors on freeway crashes and give engineers practical guidelines on improving freeway safety.