TY - JOUR
T1 - Characteristics of recent vehicle-related fatalities during active precipitation in the United States
AU - Tobin, Dana M.
AU - Kumjian, Matthew R.
AU - Black, Alan W.
N1 - Funding Information:
Vehicle-related fatality data were obtained online through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System data query. ASOS and AWOS data were obtained from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (mesonet.agron.iastate.edu). We thank Heather Reeves (CIMMS/NSSL) for assistance with ASOS data. D. T. thanks Troopers Adam Haun and Keith Johnson (Pennsylvania State Police) for providing information on local vehicle fatality documentation. D. T. acknowl-edges funding from the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The authors acknowledge the helpful reviewer comments and suggestions that contributed to improv-ing the manuscript.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. Vehicle-related fatality data were obtained online through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System data query. ASOS and AWOS data were obtained from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (mesonet.agron.iastate.edu). We thank Heather Reeves (CIMMS/NSSL) for assistance with ASOS data. D. T. thanks Troopers Adam Haun and Keith Johnson (Pennsylvania State Police) for providing information on local vehicle fatality documentation. D. T. acknowledges funding from the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The authors acknowledge the helpful reviewer comments and suggestions that contributed to improving the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Meteorological Society.
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database were used to identify vehicle-related fatalities that occurred during active precipitation from 2013 to 2017. Changes to FARS for 2013–present allow the identification of freezing rain, in addition to rain, snow, sleet, and precipitation mixtures as prevailing precrash atmospheric conditions. The characteristics of vehicle-related fatalities for each precipitation type identified in FARS were assessed in terms of total numbers, roadway surface conditions, location, and annual and diurnal variability. Vehicle-related fatalities were also matched to nearby Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) and Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) precipitation-type reports to determine their agreement with precipitation types documented in FARS. Of the vehicle-related fatalities examined, 8.6% occurred during precipitation, with these fatalities further divided by precipitation type of approximately 81% rain, 14% snow, and 5% sleet, freezing rain, and mixtures of precipitation. Unexpected discrepancies between the numbers of sleet-versus freezing-rain-related fatalities reveal that caution should be taken when using FARS to identify these precipitation types. ASOS/AWOS precipitation-type reports have moderate agreement with FARS at 20 mi (32.2 km), and are capable of distinguishing precipitation and nonprecipitation indicated in FARS. Rain and snow have good agreement between the databases, whereas sleet, freezing rain, and precipitation mixtures have significantly reduced agreement due to a combination of ASOS/AWOS limitations and suspected FARS limitations. To provide a more accurate account of precipitation types for fatal crashes, the use of crashes where FARS-identified precipitation types are confirmed by nearby ASOS/AWOS reports is suggested.
AB - Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database were used to identify vehicle-related fatalities that occurred during active precipitation from 2013 to 2017. Changes to FARS for 2013–present allow the identification of freezing rain, in addition to rain, snow, sleet, and precipitation mixtures as prevailing precrash atmospheric conditions. The characteristics of vehicle-related fatalities for each precipitation type identified in FARS were assessed in terms of total numbers, roadway surface conditions, location, and annual and diurnal variability. Vehicle-related fatalities were also matched to nearby Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) and Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) precipitation-type reports to determine their agreement with precipitation types documented in FARS. Of the vehicle-related fatalities examined, 8.6% occurred during precipitation, with these fatalities further divided by precipitation type of approximately 81% rain, 14% snow, and 5% sleet, freezing rain, and mixtures of precipitation. Unexpected discrepancies between the numbers of sleet-versus freezing-rain-related fatalities reveal that caution should be taken when using FARS to identify these precipitation types. ASOS/AWOS precipitation-type reports have moderate agreement with FARS at 20 mi (32.2 km), and are capable of distinguishing precipitation and nonprecipitation indicated in FARS. Rain and snow have good agreement between the databases, whereas sleet, freezing rain, and precipitation mixtures have significantly reduced agreement due to a combination of ASOS/AWOS limitations and suspected FARS limitations. To provide a more accurate account of precipitation types for fatal crashes, the use of crashes where FARS-identified precipitation types are confirmed by nearby ASOS/AWOS reports is suggested.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85090768420&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1175/wcas-d-18-0110.1
DO - 10.1175/wcas-d-18-0110.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090768420
SN - 1948-8327
VL - 11
SP - 935
EP - 952
JO - Weather, Climate, and Society
JF - Weather, Climate, and Society
IS - 4
ER -