A FACTOR ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENT RECORDS

IF STATISTICAL SUMMARIES OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS PUBLISHED BY MOST STATES AND BY THE NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL ARE INTERPRETED IN THE OBVIOUS WAY, CONCLUSIONS ARE LIKELY TO BE ERRONEOUS BECAUSE THE AGE OR SEX OF THE DRIVER MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO EXTRANEOUS FACTORS SUCH AS THE PROPORTION OF DRIVING DONE IN RURAL AREAS WHERE HIGH SPEEDS ARE COMMON, OR TO SIMILAR FACTORS SUCH AS NIGHT DRIVING, CONDITIONS THAT PREJUDICE THE RESULTS IN TERMS OF THE DRINKING DRIVER, AND RELATED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIVER, HIS VEHICLE, AND HIS ENVIRONMENT. FOR THIS REASON, THE FACTOR ANALYSIS PROCEDURE HAS PROVED TO BE USEFUL AS A MEANS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF A MULTIVARIABLE SITUATION, AS THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT IS. IN THIS STUDY, EIGHT MAJOR FACTORS HAVE BEEN ANALYZED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO ACCIDENTS. IN ADDITION, A SEPARATE FACTOR ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED ON A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 1,000 FATAL ACCIDENTS. AN ELEMENTARY LINKAGE ANALYSIS WAS ALSO SUPPLIED TO THE DATA, PRIMARILY TO GROUP INDIVIDUALS INTO VARIOUS CLASSES, AND THIS ADDS CONFIDENCE TO THE RESULTS OBTAINED.