title: Analysis of the frequency and severity of rear-end crashes in work zones.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence the frequency and severity of rear-end crashes in work zones because rear-end crashes represent a significant proportion of crashes that occur in work zones.
  
  
  METHODS
  Truncated count data models were developed to identify influencing factors on the frequency of read-end crashes in work zones and ordered probit models were developed to evaluate influencing factors on the severity of rear-end crashes in work zones.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the variables identified in this study for these 2 models were significant at the 95 percent level. The statistics for models indicate that the 2 developed models are appropriate compared to alternative models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Major findings related to the frequency of rear-end crashes include the following: (1) work zones for capacity and pavement improvements have the highest frequency compared to other types of work zones; (2) work zones controlled by flaggers are associated with more rear-end crashes compared to those controlled by arrow boards; and (3) work zones with alternating one-way traffic tended to have more rear-end crashes compared to those with lane shifts. Major findings related to the severity of the rear-end crashes include the following: (1) rear-end crashes associated with alcohol, night, pedestrians, and roadway defects are more severe, and those associated with careless backing, stalled vehicles, slippery roadways, and misunderstanding flagging signals are less severe; (2) truck involvement and a large number of vehicles in a crash are both associated with increased severity, and (3) rear-end crashes that happened in work zones for bridge, capacity, and pavement are likely to be more severe than others.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transportation Studies, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Raghavan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Hualiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017132:Workplace