• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.103-114
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• 2011

In this study, we discuss a fatal accident severity model obtained from the analysis of 112 crash sites collected since 2000, and the resulting relationship between fatal accidents and roadway geometry design. From the 720 times computer simulations for improving driving safety, we then reached the following conclusions:. First, the result of cross and frequency-analyses on the car accident sites showed that 43.7% of the accidents occurred on the curved roads, 60.7% on the vertical curve section, 57.2% on the roadways with radius of curvature of 0 to 24m, 83.9% on the roads with superelevation of 0.1 to 2.0% and 49.1% on the one-way 2-lane roads; vehicle types involved are passenger vehicles (33.0%), trucks (20.5%) and buses (14.3%) in order of frequency. The results also show that the superelevation is the most influencing factor for the fatal accidents. Second, employing the Ordered Probit Model (OPM), we developed a severity model for fatal accidents being a function of on various road conditions so as to the damages can be predicted. The proposed model possibly assists the practitioners to predict dangerous roadway segments, and to take appropriate measures in advance. Third, computer simulation runs show that providing adequate superelevation on the segment where a fatal accident occurred could reduce similar fatal accidents by at least 85%. This result indicates that the regulations specified in the Rule for Road Structure and Facility Standard (description and guidelines) should be enhanced to include more specific requirement for providing the superelevation.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 1994

In order to examine the effects of circadian rhythm in subjective alertness on the occurrence of traffic accidents, the authors investigated the occurrence rate of traffic accidents adjusted to traffic volume in Seoul and the relative rate of fatal accidents versus total traffic accidents in Korea at different times of day in 1991. We analyzed these data in relation with the circadian rhythm in subjective alertness. The results were as follows. Both the occurrence rate of traffic accidents adjusted to traffic volume and the relative rate of fatal accidents versus total traffic accidents were the highest at 3-4 a.m., known as the time period of the lowest subjective alertness. They were negatively correlated with subjective alertness (p<0.05, p<0.001). In conclusion, it is suggested that the circadian rhythm of subjective alertness should have a significant effect on the occurrence of traffic accidents despite many confounding factors such as driving environments.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

This study examines the characteristics of traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians by analyzing relevant data vis-à-vis fatal pedestrian accidents and proposes solutions to reduce such accidents. We analyzed 3,853 cases of fatal accidents involving elderly pedestrians and 1,786 cases involving younger pedestrian (these cases reflect accidents that occurred from 2005 to 2008). The results show that accidents involving the elderly occur more frequently in rural areas than urban areas, especially in autumn; this condition applies even in situations where the elderly exhibit compensation behaviors such as walking on safer roads. We found that elderly pedestrians exhibit a defective behavior in crossing roads, especially in complicated road conditions where intersections and turning/reversing vehicles represent a menacing threat. These characteristics could be explained by the degenerated physical/mental ability of the elderly and by psychological factors such as reduced level of self-confidence.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.201-212
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to identify the characteristics affecting traffic accidents that have occurred in 564 industrial complexes nationwide from 2011 to 2015. METHODS : The traffic accidents were specified using various factors such as industrial complex type (national VS. general), industrial complex degradation (old VS. non-old), location of complex (capital VS. non-capital), and traffic law violation (speeding, signal violation, and median invasion). The average number of crashes and accident ratio (fatal, severe, and both) in terms of characteristics of industrial complexes were calculated. With a sample of crashes of the industrial complexes for 5 years, statistical significances were tested to analyze and compare the differences based on industrial complex and traffic law characteristics using parametric and non-parametric methods. RESULTS : From statistical results, it is observed that the crash frequency occurring in old industrial complexes is three times higher than that in non-old industrial complexes. Old industrial complexes located in a capital area, old national industrial complexes, and old general industrial complexes are considerably related to higher crash frequency, but the fatal accident ratio appeared to have no statistical difference across industrial complex characteristics. Severe crashes are more likely to occur in non-old industrial complexes on an average. CONCLUSIONS : It is necessary to eliminate potential threats to roads and traffic in the same manner as illegal parking in industrial complexes through the restoration of old industrial complexes. To improve the efficiency of road infrastructure, efforts should be made to improve traffic safety in accordance with industrial characteristics such as planning and operation of relevant local government programs.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.561-571
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• 2014

This study analyzes traffic accident severity of old age drivers in fourteen cities and counties of Jeonbuk Province. It is assumed that traffic accident effecting factors have two staged structure by personal and driving environment and urban characteristics. Multilevel Analysis Model is used under the assumption of hierarchical characteristics to analyze factors effecting severity. As the driver's age increases after sixty-five years old, accident damages become severe. The drunk driving is likely to make traffic accident damage more severer. The number of fatal accident by old age drivers is about three time more than by no old age drivers. Old age drivers have higher number of night traffic accidents but severer ones in daytime. Old age drivers show the higher number of traffic accidents but severer ones in fine weather. Wet road surface also influences damage severity and especially old age drivers show higher serious damage and fatal than no old drivers.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.33-43
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• 2022

The number of car crashes increases along with the increasing number of vehicles. Hence, diverse initiatives on traffic accidents have been implemented, targeting zero crash fatalities. According to the 3rd Traffic Safety Master Plan of 2016, the current standard selecting road accident black spots prioritizes locations with the high cumulative death toll. While this standard is suitable for roads that a city government manages to some extent, it is not suitable for roads less than 20 meters that a borough (Gu) handles. The roads under the supervision of a borough do not have enough death toll, and thus improvements on its road accident black spots are highly limited. In addition, discovering the causes of traffic accidents is not easy when the number of car accidents is obtained by considering only fatal accidents, which are relatively low in number. Therefore, including all traffic accidents might identify causes of accidents and result in better advancements. Therefore, this research follows rational decision-making and suggests new National Traffic Safety Master Plan standards. These new standards are obtained by comparing accident costs between the location of fatal crashes and road accident black spots. The analysis result shows that considering all types of accidents yields better results. For example, a Three-way Intersection in front of Zion Day Care Center, one of the selected spots under the current standard, has lower road crash costs than Sinchon Intersection, a selected spot under a new standard. Therefore, the study concludes that the standards to select road accident black spots need to include traffic accident severity and road crash costs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.119-129
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• 2014

This study aims to evaluate the accident reduction effects of 'Section Speed Enforcement System' (SSES) operation in freeways. In pursuing the above, this study collects the accident data for 5 years (2 years before operation and 3 years after operation) at all 9 sections where SSESs are operated, and evaluates annually the effects before and after operation using the comparison group method (C.G. Method). The measures of effectiveness are total accidents (TAs), fatal and serious accidents (FSAs), total injuries (TIs) and fatal and serious injuries (FSIs). The main results are as follows. First, TAs and TIs are reduced to 41.7 and 17.1%, respectively. Second, FSAs and FSIs are reduced to 41.7 and 32.2%, respectively. Therefore, SSES has more effectiveness at fatal and serious accident. Third, the accident reduction effect has been increasing, and particularly the effect of 'after three years' is evaluated to be notable.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.129-134
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• 2017

This study aims to develop the traffic accident models by circular intersection type using count data model. The number of accident, the number of fatal and injured persons(FSI), and EPDO are calculated from the traffic accident data of TAAS. The circular intersection accident models are developed through Poisson and negative binomial regression analysis. The main results of this study are as follows. First, the null hypotheses that there are differences in the number of traffic accidents, FSI and EPDO by type of circular intersections are rejected. Second, the scale of intersection(median, large), number of approach road, mean width and length of exit road, area of the circulating roadway and central island are selected as factors influencing the number of traffic accidents, FSI and EPDO in rotary. Third, the scale of intersection(median), guide signs(limited speed, direction, roundabout), number of approach road, entry angle, area of the intersection and central island are adopted as factors influencing the number of traffic accidents, FSI and EPDO in roundabout. Finally, transferring from rotary to roundabout could be expected to make the accident decrease.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.142-147
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• 2018

This study aims to analyze and discuss the accidents based on the level of traffic culture (LOT). In pursuing the above, LOT are divided into three categories based on the standardized index of traffic culture. Also, this study focuses on developing the accident models using GLM (generalized linear model). The main results are as follows. First, the null hypotheses that the ratios of fatal and serious injured persons (FSI) are the same over categories are rejected. Second, as the common variables, the ratio of turn signal usage and elderly population are analysed to be impacted to the ratio of FSI. Third, the traffic culture indicators among 5 accident factors which give impact to 'high level' are judged to affect the reduction of FSI. Fourth, compared to other levels, the traffic law violations among 7 accident factors of 'medium level' are estimated to influence the increase of FSI. Finally, in 'low level', the increasing ratio of traffic culture index compared to that of previous year and the number of hospital beds per person are evaluated to be significant to reducing the ratio of FSI. This study can be expected to give some policy implications to regional traffic safety policy-making.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.22 no.3 s.74
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• pp.59-67
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• 2004

On January 1, 2003, the motor vehicle management system in Korea was transformed from government's vehicle type approval to manufacturer's self-certification. The motor vehicle recall system with self-certification is an essential mechanism to place the liability of the vehicle defects on manufacturers and hence protect consumers from automobile accidents. This study provides a methodology to measure the benefits of motor vehicle recall system in two categories: benefits of reduction in traffic accidents and benefits of severity reduction in traffic accident. Applying the proposed methodology, the benefits of implementing motor vehicle recall system in Korea were estimated. It was estimated that 745 traffic accidents, 12 fatal accidents, and 1473 injury accidents were respectively reduced in 2002 due to implementation of motor vehicle recall system.