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Prioritizing rear-end crash explanatory factors for injury severity level using deep learning and global sensitivity analysis

Research Member
Research Department
Research Date
Research Year
2024
Research Journal
Expert Systems with Applications
Research Publisher
Elsevier
Research Vol
245
Research Rank
Q1
Research_Pages
123114
Research Website
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2023.123114
Research Abstract

Traffic accidents are usually unique events with unpredictable geographical and temporal dimensions; thus, accident injury severity level (INJ-SL) analysis presents formidable categorization and data stability problems. Classical statistical models are limited in their ability to correctly model INJ-SL, whilst sophisticated machine learning approaches do not appear to have any equations to prioritize/analyze multiple contributing factors to forecast accidents accompanying INJ-SLs. In addition, the intercorrelations between the input variables may render the conclusions of a formal sensitivity analysis incorrectly. Rear-end collisions are the most common form of traffic accidents; consequently, their linked INJ-SL requires more research. This paper provides a complex technique based on a deep learning paradigm paired with different indicators of Global Sensitivity Analysis to address all of these concerns. Unlike existing neural network designs, this technique presents a deep residual neural network structure that employs residual shortcuts (i.e., connections). The connections enable the DRNNs to sidestep a few levels of the deep network architecture, evading the regular training with high accuracy issues. Using the trained DRNNs model, a Latin Hypercube sampling simulation was undertaken to determine each explanatory component's influence on the resulting INJ-SL. The latest available data from 2011 to 2018 is used to assess all rear-end collisions in North Carolina. A comparison was made between the performance of two different schemes of data categorization using a set of global sensitivity metrics. It was determined that the devised technique overcame the data heterogeneity problems to achieve an accuracy of 87%. In addition, the proposed sensitivity analysis identified the most relevant factors associated with INJ-SL rear-end collisions.

Research Rank
International Journal