Collection of Work-Zone Accident Data (abridgement)

The objective of this research was to recommend, based on analyses of current practices and the trial implementation of a promising new system, an effective yet simple information procedure that relates accident factors to traffic control deficiencies in highway work zones. The procedure, called the work-zone accident data process ( WZADP), is appropriate for two major applications: (a) it provides information that can be used to determine if a correction or change is needed in the traffic control at the work site where the accident occurred, and possibly the type of change indicated; and (b) it provides information that can be combined with that from other sites to form a data base from which accident trends and the relations between accidents and the various traffic control devices and strategies can be determined. In the first phase of this research a user’s manual was developed that described the WZADP. This manual was used in trial implementations in Iowa and North Carolina. The results of the trials indicated that the WZADP is a useful procedure for collectin work-zone accident data and that, in general, the safety record of the work zones monitored was extremely satisfactory. Problems were noted in some discrepancies between the number of accidents reported under the WZADP and other state accident records systems, and in some instances the police did not report all work-zone accidents to project managers.