Project

Research Utilizing the SHRP2 Safety Data to Support Highway Safety (SHRP2 Work Zones) - Part 1

Period
1 January 2015–1 January 2016
Project manager
Robert Thomson

The goal of this research is to develop a new analytical approach to understanding driving behavior and its relationship to safety. We will apply our methods to analyze driver behavior in work zones to identify aspects of that behavior that should be targeted by countermeasures. This Phase I proposal is for pilot work using naturalistic driving data from SHRP2 (possibly enhanced by data from other naturalistic driving studies) to explore an analytical approach to work zone driving behavior that shows promise but has not been tested previously. The approach focuses on identifying concise metrics describing normal driving behavior in work zones so that abnormal behavior can also be identified (by contrast). Although not all abnormal behavior is expected to be dangerous, dangerous behavior should look abnormal in a useful metric. Thus, we will evaluate behavior that deviates from norms in terms of its potential to cause safety problems and will focus on that subset of abnormal behavior for potential countermeasure development.

Short facts

Research area
Safety performance evaluation
Financier(s)

Federal Highway Association

Partners

Chalmers, UMTRI

Project type
Project