Investigating the Impact of Rain on Crash-Clearance Duration

Abstract

Crashes are one of the major causes of traffic delays. It is therefore essential to clear crashes as quickly as possible. However, adverse weather conditions, especially rainy conditions, could potentially influence crash clearance duration. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of rainy conditions on the clearance duration of crashes on freeways. The specific objectives were (1) to estimate the duration of rainfall during the crash clearance time, and (2) to evaluate the impact of crash-related, spatiotemporal, and responding agencies’ attributes on the crash clearance time during rainy conditions. The analysis was based on 2014–2016 crash data and hourly rain data on a network of freeways in Jacksonville, Florida. The study estimated the rainfall duration during the crash clearance time. Hazard-based models and bootstrap resampling method were used to investigate factors that influence the crash clearance time. The results indicated that the level of the impact of a crash, the rainfall duration, the time of day, and the day of the week significantly affect crash clearance time during rainy conditions. The study results can assist incident management agencies in advancing strategies to reduce crash clearance time during adverse weather conditions.