Characteristics and Contributory Factors of Work Zone Crashes

Work zone crashes have accounted for 9,900 fatalities in the United States in the last ten years. For addressing the safety in the work zones, a clear understanding of work zone crash characteristics would be valuable for highway agencies in setting up proper traffic management plans based on the prevailing conditions. Accordingly this study investigated characteristics of work zone crashes of the states currently included in the Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative (SWZDI) region which are Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Work zone crash data was obtained from respective departments of transportation and crash data from year 2002 to 2006 was considered. The characteristics related to work zone crashes such as environmental conditions, vehicles, crashes, driver, and roadway factors were analyzed for the combined states. The results showed that majority of the work zone crashes occurred in the activity area of the work zone where the actual work goes on. The lane closure type of work zone is the one where most of the work zone crashes occurred. Multiple vehicle crashes and rear-end collisions were also more predominant in work zones. Some of the primary drivers contributing factors in work zone crashes were inattentive driving and following too close for the conditions. The middle aged drivers were more involved in work zone crashes. In order to find the relation between crash severity and other variables a test of independency was performed between them using chi-square test methodology. This analysis yielded crucial results which helped in understanding major factors associated with work zone crashes.