Vehicle occupant injury severity on highways: an empirical investigation.

Accident severity analysis is important to both researchers and practitioners because of its implications in accident cost estimation, external cost estimation and road safety. Although much research has been done to explore the factors influencing crash-injury severity, few studies have investigated the association between severity and traffic characteristics collected real-time during the time the accident occurred. We apply a random parameters ordered probit model to explore the influence of speed and traffic volume on the injury level sustained by vehicle occupants involved in accidents on the A4-A86 junction in the Paris region. Results indicate that increased traffic volume has a consistently positive effect on severity, while speed has a differential effect on severity depending on flow conditions. 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.