A traffic collision in which at least one driver fled from the crash scene without reporting the crash would be classified as a hit-and-run collision. In the City of Calgary about 18 percent of total traffic collisions in 2005 were considered to be hit-and-run crashes. The objective of this study was to identify the environmental and road characteristics that contributed to the occurrence of hit-and-run in the event of a crash in the City of Calgary. A logistic regression model was developed to delineate the likelihood of hit-and-run crashes as opposed to non hitand-run crashes. Our study showed that compared to weekday and daytime collisions, weekend and night time collisions had significantly higher likelihood of hit-and-run in the event of a crash. In terms of weather condition, snow and rain reduced the chance of hit-and-run compared to clear weather condition. Also, hit-and-run were more likely to occur on undivided roads and roads with artificial light. As for driver related factors, among the identified drivers, female drivers aged at 55 or above showed the greatest likelihood to run away after a crash compared to other gender and age groups. (Author/publisher)
Abstract