Development of Safety Performance Function Based on Expressway Alignment Homogeneous Section

Abstract

In the past, expressways focused on mobility. However, the paradigm of expressways fuction today has been changed from fast expressways to safe expressways as people's quality of living and consciousness level heightened. In 2012, 3,550 traffic accidents occurred on expressways and 371 people died. The fatality rate of traffic accidents on expressways is almost twice that on general national roads. This study developed accident forecast models (safety performance functions) based on the number of traffic accidents and traffic volumes on six major lines on expressways. It is difficult to forecast safety performance functions for each expressway line because the lines and the scales of expressways are different from each other; therefore, integrated safety performance functions of six lines were determined first, and the coefficients, which can correct the traffic accidents on each line, were calculated. It is believed that this study will contribute in the safer management of expressways by being used as basic information in the establishment of traffic safety strategies for each expressway line in prevention of traffic accidents. Moreover, more studies would be required in the future, which would suggest reliable accident forecasts by calculating correction coefficients by line through integrated models by groups dependent on the characteristics of each line.