As of October 1, 2016, the SWUTC concluded its 28 years of operation and is no longer an active center of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. The archived SWUTC website remains available here.

161341

SWUTC Research Project Description

Hot Spot Analysis of Teen Drivers in Houston Texas

University: Texas Southern University

Principal Investigator:
Gwen Goodwin
Texas Southern University
(713) 313-7283

Project Monitor:
Vincent Sanders
Houston Metro
(713) 739-3867

Funding Source: State of Texas General Revenue Funds

Total Project Cost: $25,000

Project Number: 161341

Date Started: 12/1/12

Estimated Completion Date: 11/31/13

Project Summary

Project Abstract:
Today, states have enacted laws to ensure that teen drivers are more skilled and drive safely. The result is fewer accidents. However, in previous research, when teen crashes were mapped, certain streets and areas appeared to have more accidents than other areas. The goal of this research is to investigate the “hot spot” locations where teens have accidents to determine specific times of day, days of the week, and other important variables contributing to the concentration of accidents. This research will benefit planners and engineers and help them determine if additional changes are needed at locations with high teen crashes to make these areas safer.

Project Objectives:
This explanatory research will build upon a previous study of young drivers and senior drivers that was conducted in Houston, Pearland, and Sugar Land, Texas. The CTTR project team will refine the motor vehicle crash data, and segregate crashes by young drivers between the ages 15 to 24 years old. This analysis will review crashes in the city of Houston, to determine a pattern of young driver crashes throughout the City. The study will comprise of three analyses, 1) descriptive analysis, 2) hot spot analysis, and 3) zonal analysis. Microsoft Excel, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used to collect, analyze, and display young driver populations and motor vehicle crash statistics.

Task Descriptions:

Task 1: Literature Review
Literature on hot spot analysis will be review. Special attention will be given to information relevant to research on teen drivers. This information will form the basis and foundation of why the study is needed.

Task 2: Descriptive Analysis
Population data will be collected from the U.S. Census Bureau at the tract level. The data will be entered into Microsoft Excel, and sorted by age and gender. GIS maps will produced to display the distribution of population between the ages 15 and 24 years old throughout Houston, TX.

Task 3: Hot Spot Analysis
The latest motor vehicle crash data will be collected from the Texas Department of Transportation. The unprocessed raw data will go through the data mining process, and the independent variable (crash severity) and dependent variables (age, gender, day of week, time of day, month, and impairment) will be extracted. The variables will be coded and uploaded to GIS, and a hot spot analysis will be performed to determine where there are clustering of young driver crashes within the City.

Task 4: Zonal Analysis
In an effort to determine reasons for young driver crashes, Houston will be divided into zones, and the hot spots will be ranked. The two areas that ranked the highest, and the two areas that rank the lowest will be further evaluated. The project team will develop a matrix with variables that are associated with crashes, and conduct a comparative study of crashes.

Task 5: Final Report
A final report with the analysis findings will be produced for the Southwest Region University Transportation Center.


Implementation of Research Outcomes:
Today, states have enacted laws to ensure that teen drivers are more skilled and drive safely. The result is fewer accidents. However, in previous research, when teen crashes were mapped, certain streets and areas appeared to have more accidents than other areas. The goal of this research was to investigate the “hot spot” locations where teens have accidents and to determine important factors contributing to the concentration of accidents.

Products developed by this research:

Planned Presentation:  Hot Spot Analysis of Teen Drivers in Houston, Texas, Gwendolyn Goodwin, Jamaal Schoby and Walter Council, submitted and accepted for presentation at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January 2015.


Impacts/Benefits of Implementation:
The outcome of this research shows the benefit of the red light cameras, traffic calming/management, and signalization programs in decreasing accidents for teen and young drivers. This could be used positively by city officials (public works and planning departments) to lobby for additional changes on streets with a high volume of accidents.


Web Links:

Final Technical Report