Risk factors for the injury severity of fatigue-related traffic accidents

Traffic accidents caused by drivers' fatigue carry less than one percent of the whole accidents in HLJ Province during the years 2006 to 2008. However, more than forty percent of such accidents accompanied fatalities. Drivers' fatigue is usually hard to be identified and there are no valid measures that could make real-time detection for it. Accordingly, variables such as drivers' characteristics, time of accident and whether using seat belt are considered to have close association with the injury severity in fatigue-related traffic accidents. This research focuses on analyzing injury severities of traffic accidents caused by drivers' fatigue, utilizing stepwise logistic regression method. Potential risk factors such as human, environment, road, and so on, were examined. Driving year, road pavement type, road grade and alignment, terrain, time and type of the accident, streetlight condition, vehicle type, speed limit, the number of vehicles involved, and whether using seat belt are significant factors impacting the injury severity. Identifying the high risk factors influencing the injury severity of fatigue-related accidents helps prevent the occurrence of drivers' fatigue and improve road safety conditions.