Article ID: | iaor20116666 |
Volume: | 43 |
Issue: | 5 |
Start Page Number: | 1666 |
End Page Number: | 1676 |
Publication Date: | Sep 2011 |
Journal: | Accident Analysis and Prevention |
Authors: | Savolainen Peter T, Mannering Fred L, Lord Dominique, Quddus Mohammed A |
Keywords: | accident, statistics: general |
Reducing the severity of injuries resulting from motor‐vehicle crashes has long been a primary emphasis of highway agencies and motor‐vehicle manufacturers. While progress can be simply measured by the reduction in injury levels over time, insights into the effectiveness of injury‐reduction technologies, policies, and regulations require a more detailed empirical assessment of the complex interactions that vehicle, roadway, and human factors have on resulting crash‐injury severities. Over the years, researchers have used a wide range of methodological tools to assess the impact of such factors on disaggregate‐level injury‐severity data, and recent methodological advances have enabled the development of sophisticated models capable of more precisely determining the influence of these factors. This paper summarizes the evolution of research and current thinking as it relates to the statistical analysis of motor‐vehicle injury severities, and provides a discussion of future methodological directions.