The temporal stability of factors affecting driver-injury severities in single-vehicle crashes: Some empirical evidence

This study explores the temporal stability of factors affecting driver-injury severities in single-vehicle crashes. Using data for single-vehicle crashes in Chicago, Illinois from a nine-year period from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2012, separate annual models of driver-injury severities (with possible outcomes of severe injury, minor injury, and no injury) were estimated using a mixed logit model to capture potential unobserved heterogeneity. Likelihood ratio tests were conducted to examine the overall stability of model estimates across time periods and marginal effects of each explanatory variable were also considered to investigate the temporal stability of the effect of individual parameter estimates on injury-severity probabilities. A wide range of variables potentially affecting injury severities was considered including driver-contributing factors, location and time of day, crash-specific factors, driver attributes, roadway characteristics, environmental conditions, and vehicle characteristics. The results indicated that, although data from different years share some common features, the model specifications and estimated parameters are not temporally stable. In addition, complex temporal stability behaviors were observed for individual parameter estimates such as driver gender, apparent physical condition of driver, type of vehicle, vehicle occupancy, road surface, weather, and light conditions. It is speculated that this temporal instability could be a function of the urban nature of the data, possible variations in police-reporting of crash determinants over time, the impact of continuing improvements in vehicle safety features and drivers’ response to them, and/or the effects of macroeconomic instability that was present over the time period considered in this study. Although the source of temporal stability is not clearly known, the general subject of temporal instability warrants substantial attention in future research. The possible presence of temporal instability in injury-severity models can have significant consequences in highway-safety practice where accurate forecasting of the impacts of alternative safety countermeasures is sought.