Examining the differences between contributing factors affecting the severity of Single and Multi-Vehicle Crashes

Abstract

During the last two decades, the factors affecting the severity of traffic crashes have been extensively examined in many prior studies. However, the studies that addressed the differences between the factors affecting the occurrence and severity of single-vehicle (SV) and multi-vehicle (MV) crashes are relatively low. In the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (AD), the capital of United Arab Emirates, about 41% of severe traffic crashes is SV crashes. In addition, AD has a unique composition of population and licensed drivers as about 87% of licensed drivers are non-Emiratis. Despite these facts and the uniqueness of licensed drivers’ composition in AD, the factors affecting the occurrences and severity of SV and MV crashed in AD have not been explicitly addressed in any previous studies. Therefore, this paper aims to contribute to the literature by providing a better understanding regarding the differences between the contributing factors (i.e., driver, vehicle, road and environment factors) affecting the occurrences and severity of SV and MV crashes in AD. Also, it aims to examine the influence of crash type (single or multi-vehicle crash) on the crash severity in AD. To achieve these goals, logistic regression and bivariate probit approaches were employed. The findings indicated that the contributing factors affecting the severity of SV and MV crashes in AD were relatively different. In addition, it was found that males, young and low educated drivers contribute in both SV and MV crashes more than females, old and high educated drivers. However, Emirati drivers have the highest contribution percentage in the SV crashes while Asian drivers have the largest contribution percentage in the MV crashes in AD. Also, it was found that having MV crash increases the likelihood of fatal crash compared to SV crash. Practical suggestions on how to improve traffic safety of SV and MV crashes are also provided and discussed.