Analysis of Fatal Crashes Due to Signal and Stop Sign Violations

The U. S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative is focused on improving the safety of the nation's highways through the continued development and deployment of advanced-technology crash avoidance systems. This research supports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in developing performance specifications for stop sign/traffic signal violations and insufficient gap warning systems (e.g., left turn across path). Crash data for the analysis were obtained from the 1999-2000 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) crash databases. The FARS contains information on all fatal crashes involving a motor vehicle traveling on a public trafficway in the United States.