Analysis of Traffic Accident Temporal and Spatial Impact Based on Shockwave Theory

The study on the traffic impact of highway accident plays an important role in highway incident management. The paper aims to analyze the accumulation and dissipation process of an accident upstream on a two-lane highway by applying the shockwave theory. According to the number of impacted lanes, the clear-up time, and the upstream traffic flow, a mathematical model named highway traffic accident impact model (HTAIM) is established. Comparing numerical models analysis with professional microscopic traffic simulation software under the same traffic conditions, the deviation turns out to be smaller than other previous models. The results show that the model is proper and efficient for analyzing the impact of traffic accidents on upstream flow.