Examining Crashes for Out-of-State and Out-of-Town Drivers: A Study of Two Locations in Alabama

Drivers who are unfamiliar with the roadways, locations of destinations, and generally distracted by the newness of the surrounding are assumed to have different crash experiences, both with respect to causes and conditions. This paper examines crash experiences from five year of crashes for two communities in Alabama to determine if there is a significant difference in crash variables between different driver populations, out-of-state drivers versus in-state drivers and out-of-town drivers versus local drivers. The data were analyzed using two statistical tests to evaluate the difference in crashes. The results show that out-of-state and out-of-town drivers tend to have significant seasonal differences depending on the community, have different types of crashes that tend to be focused on distracted driving and possibly searching behavior and different driver age for the crash depending on the location. Interesting to note, other environmental factors such as weather had no significant influence on crashes for the communities. Overall, the crashes were determined to be based on distractions and inattentiveness of the driver unfamiliar with the roadway and community.