Injury severity, vehicle safety features, and intersection crashes.
OBJECTIVE
This article examines injury severity in crashes that occur within signalized intersections and identifies some factors that explain them.


METHODS
It uses a random effect ordered logit model and an unbalanced longitudinal panel data for 303 intersections for one medium-size city.


RESULTS
Among its findings are 3% and 0.29% lower probabilities of sustaining evident and disabling injuries respectively when vehicle occupants wear three-point seat belts and corresponding 1.71% and 0.16% lower probabilities when they wear only shoulder belts. Also, the probabilities of sustaining evident and disabling injuries reduce by 0.87% and 0.08% when vehicles with airbags are involved in crashes. But, when front airbags deploy the probabilities of sustaining disabling, evident, and possible injuries increase by 1.3%, 11.93%, and 26.80%, respectively. Similarly, both side airbags deploying increases disabling and evident injuries by 1.8% and 15.53%, respectively. In addition, we find that the probability of sustaining severe injuries increases in head-on crashes.


CONCLUSIONS
These results emphasize the effectiveness of seat belt use, especially three-point seat belts, the inclusion of airbags in all vehicles, increased awareness of possible injuries from airbags deploying, signalized intersection designs that include pedestrian crossing signals, and additional research to identify the predominant types of injuries associated with airbags deploying.
Obeng
K
K
Department of Economics and Transportation/Logistics, School of Business and Economics, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27411, USA. obengk@ncat.edu
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001336:Automobiles; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina; D011482:Protective Devices; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014505:Urban Population; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000145:classification*