Characteristics of Traffic Crashes on Freeways in China

As China feverishly builds one of the largest freeway systems in the world to meet its ever-increasing demand for highway transportation–stimulated by the unprecedented economic boom–traffic safety has become a serious concern. The problem of more than 100,000 annual traffic fatalities is threatening the country's sustainable economic development. The significant differences in road user behavior, level of motorization, traffic enforcement practice, roadside design criteria, and economic development stage make the characteristics of traffic crashes in China somewhat different from those in developed countries. To reduce traffic crashes it is important to investigate what, when, how, and why those crashes occurred. This paper introduces a highway safety project conducted on Jingjintang Expressway, one of the first freeways built in China. Results of the study show that, among other factors, the speed differential between cars and large vehicles is a main cause of high crash fatalities, particularly for rear-end collisions. The lack of real-time enforcement, problematic driver behavior, and substandard roadside design, as well as overloaded trucks all contribute heavily to traffic crashes on China's freeways.