Freeways’ Road Safety Analysis Through Accident Database and Human Behavior

Road traffic accidents represent a significant public health care, having a serious impact on collective well-being especially in extra-urban areas. So, the academic research is increasingly focusing on this question and examining it from different perspectives. In this paper an extra-urban Italian motorway has been considered and its risk associated with traffic safety has been evaluated through an in-depth analysis of its accident database. It has been evaluated in order to assess the influence of certain factors on the accidents' severity and frequency. The factors included are road geometry, surface conditions, accident nature, and human behaviour. The statistical analysis of these elements has been integrated with a field experiment, with a total of 21 participants involved, to assess the user level of distraction and vehicle kinematic data in the selected area, through innovative instruments as an Eye Tracking and a Vbox Pro Video. The obtained results revealed that drivers' behaviour had a more significant impact on accident severity than the road geometric characteristics. Congestion is the primary risk factor for accidents, prompting users to adopt erratic driving behaviours, high speeds and hight levels of inattention.