title: Effects of extraordinary snowfall on traffic safety.
abstract: Snowfall affects traffic safety by causing changes in roadway surface and visibility that result in crashes, spinouts, and breakdowns. Using data collected at a site that regularly receives nearly 1000 cm of snow during the snow season, this study examines the impact of snowfall quantity, gap between snow events, and weather conditions on crash and incident frequencies. Estimation results from regression analysis show that snowfall severity significantly impacts crashes and incidents but the impact diminishes marginally with each additional centimeter of snow. Gap has a significant fixed effect on crashes but its impact on incidents varies significantly across observations. The effect of the mixed precipitation condition is smaller in comparison to an all-snow condition. These results will help inform policy for snow removal and traffic enforcement in areas of high snowfall.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, 416 McLaughlin Hall, Berkeley 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seeherman
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, 107 McLaughlin Hall, Berkeley 94720, USA. Electronic address: liuyisha@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000531:Altitude; D002140:California; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012449:Safety; D012621:Seasons; D012914:Snow; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Crashes; Gap effect; Incidents; Mixed precipitation; Snowfall