[xyzwave]

Having done something similar for the Long Beach, CA area in college, one of the most interesting takeaways was the relative spatial distribution between fatal and non-fatal accidents.

Non-fatal accidents clearly clustered around high traffic areas, but fatal accidents didn’t reveal the same clustering. Instead they appeared to be uniformly distributed across the city.

I’m sure there is an explanation in this, and this was only 10 years data for a single city, but it always felt a little spooky that these accidents were equally likely to happen anywhere (though most likely later in the night).

[icsllaf]

High traffic areas tend to move traffic much slower than lower density areas. Getting into a fatal traffic crash when going 15 miiles per hour in stop and go traffic is much harder than when you lose control of a car when going 50 on an empty street.

[toast0]

I suspect that fatal accidents that are due to roadway design issues are more likely to result in the roadway being changed quickly; so it doesn't happen again. Especially if the fatalities are at the scene.

Minor accidents can happen for years at the same intersection, because of the same design issues, without triggering urgent followup, if it doesn't somehow trigger a response from officials.