Factors Influencing Wrong-way Crash Severity on Highways in Thailand

Abstract

Wrong-way driving is a driving violation that can result in a road crash. When wrong-way crashes occurred on highways in Thailand, there was a high risk of severe injuries and death. Most of them occurred on divided highways. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors influencing wrong-way crash severity and propose a recommendation for addressing the severity of wrong-way crashes on highways in Thailand. This study analyzed the wrong-way crash data for ten years between 2013 and 2022 from the Department of Highways, Thailand, to determine the factors influencing the severity of wrong-way crashes by using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. The studied factors were categorized into four categories, including, day and time of crashes, roadway characteristics, environmental characteristics, and crash characteristics. The severity of wrong-way crashes was divided into fatalities and injuries. The results stated that factors increasing fatality of wrong-way crashes were crashes during nighttime, highways without frontage lanes, between motorcycles and heavy vehicles, and between motorcycles and passenger cars. In addition, this study provided policy-related recommendations to reduce the severity of wrong-way accidents in Thailand.