Injury Severity of Bus–Pedestrian Crashes in South Korea Considering the Effects of Regional and Company Factors

Ho-Chul Park, Yang-Jun Joo, Seung-Young Kho, Dong-Kyu Kim and Byung-Jung Park
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Ho-Chul Park: Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2450, USA
Yang-Jun Joo: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Seung-Young Kho: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Dong-Kyu Kim: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Byung-Jung Park: Department of Transportation Engineering, Myongji University, Yongin 17058, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Bus–pedestrian crashes typically result in more severe injuries and deaths than any other type of bus crash. Thus, it is important to screen and improve the risk factors that affect bus–pedestrian crashes. However, bus–pedestrian crashes that are affected by a company’s and regional characteristics have a cross-classified hierarchical structure, which is difficult to address properly using a single-level model or even a two-level multi-level model. In this study, we used a cross-classified, multi-level model to consider simultaneously the unobserved heterogeneities at these two distinct levels. Using bus–pedestrian crash data in South Korea from 2011 through to 2015, in this study, we investigated the factors related to the injury severity of the crashes, including crash level, regional and company level factors. The results indicate that the company and regional effects are 16.8% and 5.1%, respectively, which justified the use of a multi-level model. We confirm that type I errors may arise when the effects of upper-level groups are ignored. We also identified the factors that are statistically significant, including three regional-level factors, i.e., the elderly ratio, the ratio of the transportation infrastructure budget, and the number of doctors, and 13 crash-level factors. This study provides useful insights concerning bus–pedestrian crashes, and a safety policy is suggested to enhance bus–pedestrian safety.

Keywords: bus–pedestrian crash; injury severity; cross-classified multi-level model (CCMM); heterogeneity; type I statistical error (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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