Traffic accidents caused the most accidental deaths at work in Malaysia. The SOCSO (Social Security Organization) reported that the number of deaths due to commuting accidents was 760, nearly two times more than deaths caused by accidents that happened at the workplace (471 deaths). The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship of socio-demographic background and the risk exposure of the drivers during their work commuting trips. The study was based on compensation claims to SOCSO where data were extracted from "Form 21" provided by SOCSO. A total of 377 respondents were selected through systematic random sampling method from a list of SOCSO claimants. It was found that majority of the traffic accidents (83%) involved males and most of them (92.2%) were on motorcycles. Male drivers have an average driving experience of 10.7 years and 8.6 years for females. The estimation of the travelled distance for the sample from home to the workplace is 0.65~131 km. Mean accident occurrence time was 23 min whilst mean distance was 11.6 km. The multiple regression analysis showed that the accident distance was affected by the age of driver, actual travel distance, travel objective and speed.

Move-over laws are intended to enhance the safety of road agency and law enforcement personnel who are working on or near the roadway. This study examined driver behavior through a series of field studies where these types of vehicles were located on the outside shoulder of a freeway with their lights activated. The study also evaluated the use of upstream dynamic message signs (DMS) to discern whether targeted safety messages had any impact on behavior under this scenario. Upstream and downstream speed and lane position data were collected from vehicles originally traveling in the rightmost lane upstream of the DMS and emergency/service vehicle at two locations in Michigan. Logistic regression models were estimated to assess driver compliance with the law while considering important contextual factors, such as the type of vehicle on the shoulder and the message displayed on the DMS. The results indicated that drivers were more likely to move over or reduce their speeds when a police car was located on the shoulder as compared to a transportation agency pickup truck. In general, the type of message displayed had minimal impact on driver behavior. The one exception showed that drivers were likely to drive at or below the speed limit when targeted move-over messages were shown as compared to standard travel time messages. For all message types, both speed and lane compliance improved if the roadside vehicle was a police car.

Cellular telephone use has increased significantly in the United States as 97% of residents now own some type of cell phone. The ubiquity of cell phones has introduced concerns with respect to traffic safety as cell phone-related distractions have been shown to affect driving ability and increase crash risk. Various countermeasures have been implemented to address this issue, including public outreach campaigns and targeted enforcement activities. However, the efficacy of such strategies has been the subject of limited research. This paper examines cell phone use rates in consideration of enforcement activities in conjunction with targeted safety messages on roadside dynamic message signs. Two phases of enforcement were conducted in two urbanized areas of Michigan. Data were collected before, during, and after the enforcement period. A two-way random effects logistic regression model was estimated, and the results showed that cell phone use rates were lower during and, particularly, after the enforcement activities were conducted. Use rates were also found to vary based on age, gender, and race, allowing for the identification of target groups for public awareness and outreach campaigns. Use rates were also lower at freeway exit ramps as compared to signalized and stop-controlled surface street intersections. Lastly, cell phone-specific safety messages were associated with lower use rates compared with other message types, suggesting a potential synergistic effect.

Posted speed limits inform drivers of the legal maximum allowable speed. In contrast, advisory speeds provide recommendations to drivers based on highway design, operating characteristics, and conditions. Various studies have investigated the safety impacts of speed limit changes, particularly on high-speed rural highways. One area of particular concern on such roadways is the approach to exit ramps that require substantive speed reductions, such as loop ramps. To date, there has been limited research examining the safety impact of the differential between the mainline speed limit and the lower exit ramp advisory speeds. This study aims to evaluate this relationship through the estimate of a series of safety performance functions. Random effects negative binomial regression models were estimated using data from 187 exit ramps where advisory speed signs are present throughout Michigan. The analyses were conducted based on a five-year period from 2014 to 2019, excluding 2017 data because of speed limit increases. In addition to speed differentials, various roadway characteristics such as deceleration lane length and curve radius were also evaluated. Results indicate that crashes increased as the difference between mainline and ramp speed increased. Crashes were also shown to decrease on ramps where the upstream deceleration lane length was greater than the minimum recommendation as per current design guidance.

Distracted driving is among the leading causes of motor vehicle crashes in the United States, though the magnitude of this problem is difficult to quantify given limitations of police-reported crash data. This study leveraged data from the second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study to gain important insights into the risks posed by driver distraction on both freeways and two-lane highways. More than 50 types of secondary tasks were aggregated into ten distraction type categories and mixed-effects logistic regression models were estimated to discern how the risks of near-crash events varied by distraction type while controlling for the effects of driver, roadway, and traffic characteristics. In general, the types of distractions that created the most pronounced risks were those that introduced a combination of cognitive, visual, and manual distractions. For example, drivers who used cell phones were subject to higher risks and these risks tended to be most pronounced when both visual and manual distractions were involved. Likewise, risks tended to be highest when drivers reached for other objects inside the vehicle, engaged in personal hygiene-related activities, or focused on activities occurring outside of the driving environment. Although the same factors tended to increase near-crash risk on both types of facilities, the impacts of several factors tended to be more pronounced on two-lane highways where interaction with other vehicles occurred more frequently. From a policy standpoint, the results of this study provide further motivation for more aggressive legislation and enforcement of distracted driving.