Abstract Three years of hourly traffic collision data and associated weather data for the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were analyzed. Using a matched-pair analysis to compare periods of adverse weather with similar periods without adverse weather, the effect of weather on traffic collisions in Edmonton was assessed. Adverse weather took the form of strong winds (>35 km h−1), precipitation (>0.10 mm h−1), or limited visibility (<1.0 km). Risk ratio (RR) values were calculated to determine the relative increase in accidents resulting from each type of weather, as well as for multiple types of concurrent weather. Analysis was performed for collisions that resulted in property damage only (PDO) and severe collisions that resulted in injuries. To determine whether specific types of collisions were more likely to occur during adverse weather, RR values were determined for multiple types of collisions, such as following too closely or failing to stop at a traffic signal. Our results show that adverse weather affects traffic collisions in a variety of ways. Horizontal visibility less than 200 m and strong winds above 45 km h−1, while relatively infrequent in Edmonton, typically resulted in an increase in overall collisions (RR = 3.40 and 1.17, respectively). Precipitation, which is far more common to Edmonton, posed an increased risk to drivers. The type of precipitation was also clearly a factor. The RR value for PDO collisions was higher during periods of snowfall (1.90) than during periods of rainfall (1.28), but the RR value for collisions resulting in injuries (1.37) was higher than the value for PDO collisions during periods of rainfall. Collisions during snowfall had a higher RR value (1.90) for PDO collisions than for collisions resulting in injuries (1.55), and both were higher than the RR values for either type of collision during rainfall, suggesting that snowfall is a greater threat to driving safety than rainfall. For both precipitation types, a higher rate of precipitation was associated with increased risk and a larger number of collisions. Some collision types were clearly affected by the type of precipitation. Vehicles left the road resulting in property damage at far higher RR values during snowfall (3.36) than during periods of rainfall (1.09). Furthermore, analysis of collision types identify that two collisions with nearly identical actions, stopping at a stop sign and stopping at a traffic signal, have very different risks during adverse weather. Stopping at stop signs appears to be far more difficult than stopping at traffic signals during precipitation events and has a higher associated risk. Lastly, we identify a puzzling concern: our results show that Edmonton drivers do not perceive periods of rainfall as presenting a hazard, resulting in a disproportionately high number of injuries during rainfall.

中文翻译：

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天气对加拿大埃德蒙顿交通碰撞的影响

摘要 分析了加拿大艾伯塔省埃德蒙顿市三年每小时的交通碰撞数据和相关天气数据。使用配对分析来比较不利天气时期与没有不利天气的相似时期，评估了埃德蒙顿天气对交通碰撞的影响。不利天气以强风 (>35 km h-1)、降水 (>0.10 mm h-1) 或能见度有限 (<1.0 km) 的形式出现。计算风险比 (RR) 值以确定每种天气以及多种类型的并发天气导致事故的相对增加。对仅导致财产损失 (PDO) 的碰撞和导致人员受伤的严重碰撞进行了分析。为了确定在恶劣天气期间是否更可能发生特定类型的碰撞，确定了多种碰撞类型的 RR 值，例如跟得太近或未能在交通信号灯处停车。我们的结果表明，恶劣的天气会以多种方式影响交通碰撞。低于 200 m 的水平能见度和高于 45 km h-1 的强风，虽然在埃德蒙顿相对较少，但通常会导致整体碰撞增加（分别为 RR = 3.40 和 1.17）。降水在埃德蒙顿更为常见，给司机带来了更大的风险。降水的类型显然也是一个因素。PDO 碰撞的 RR 值在降雪期间 (1.90) 高于降雨期间 (1.28)，但碰撞导致伤害的 RR 值 (1. 37) 高于降雨期间 PDO 碰撞的值。降雪期间的碰撞对于 PDO 碰撞的 RR 值 (1.90) 高于导致伤害的碰撞 (1.55)，并且两者都高于降雨期间任一类型碰撞的 RR 值，表明降雪对驾驶安全构成更大威胁比降雨。对于这两种降水类型，较高的降水率与风险增加和碰撞次数增加有关。一些碰撞类型明显受到降水类型的影响。车辆在降雪期间 (3.36) 离开道路导致财产损失的 RR 值远高于降雨期间 (1.09)。此外，对碰撞类型的分析确定了两个动作几乎相同的碰撞，在停车标志处停车和在交通信号处停车，在恶劣天气下的风险大不相同。在降水事件期间，在停车标志处停车似乎比在交通信号处停车困难得多，并且具有更高的相关风险。最后，我们发现了一个令人费解的问题：我们的结果表明，埃德蒙顿的司机并不认为降雨时段会带来危险，导致降雨期间受伤的人数不成比例。