The effect of time of day on driver's injury severity at highway-rail grade crossings in the United States

Based on the Federal Railway Administration (FRA) database, there were totally 25, 945 highway-rail crossing crashes happened in the United States between 2002 and 2011. With an extensive research, analysis results showed that there were substantial differences by time of day for driver's injury severity at highway-rail grade crossings. However, there is no published study on time of day analysis of driver's injury given that a highway-rail grade crossing crash happens. This study applied ordered probit models to explore the determinants of injury severity for motor vehicle drivers at highway-rail grade crossings. The results show that motor vehicle driver's injury severity in highway-rail grade crossing crashes that happen during a.m. peak, p.m. peak, and p.m. off-peak is extremely higher than other time periods. However, speed control will significantly reduce driver's injury severity. In addition, crashes that happen during early morning, a.m. peak, and p.m. peak are more likely to be influenced by vehicle speed and train speed compared with other time periods. Paved highways will significantly help to reduce driver's injury severity at highway-rail grade crossings. Drivers during peak hours, early morning and p.m. off-peak are more likely to be influenced by unpaved roadway compared with other time periods.