title: Analyzing injury severity factors at highway railway grade crossing accidents involving vulnerable road users: A comparative study.
abstract: The main objective of this study is to identify the main factors associated with injury severity of vulnerable road users (VRUs) involved in accidents at highway railroad grade crossings (HRGCs) using data mining techniques.
  
  
  
  This article applies an ordered probit model, association rules, and classification and regression tree (CART) algorithms to the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) HRGC accident database for the period 2007-2013 to identify VRU injury severity factors at HRGCs.
  
  
  
  The results show that train speed is a key factor influencing injury severity. Further analysis illustrated that the presence of illumination does not reduce the severity of accidents for high-speed trains. In addition, there is a greater propensity toward fatal accidents for elderly road users compared to younger individuals. Interestingly, at night, injury accidents involving female road users are more severe compared to those involving males.
  
  
  
  The ordered probit model was the primary technique, and CART and association rules act as the supporter and identifier of interactions between variables. All 3 algorithms' results consistently show that the most influential accident factors are train speed, VRU age, and gender. The findings of this research could be applied for identifying high-risk hotspots and developing cost-effective countermeasures targeting VRUs at HRGCs.
authors.affiliation: a School of Railway Engineering , Iran University of Science and Technology , Tehran , Iran.
authors.forename: Haniyeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghomi
authors.affiliation: a School of Railway Engineering , Iran University of Science and Technology , Tehran , Iran.
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bagheri
authors.affiliation: b Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering , University of Waterloo , Waterloo , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Civil and Applied Mechanics , McGill University , Montreal , Quebec , Canada.
authors.forename: Luis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Miranda-Moreno
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D057225:Data Mining / Q000379:methods; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011890:Railroads / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Highway railroad grade crossing (HRGC); association rules; classification and regression tree (CART); ordered probit model; severity of accidents; vulnerable road users (VRU)