The purpose of this study was to evaluate safety characteristics of continuous green through lane (CGTL) intersections. The proportions analysis was used to assess the percentages of each crash conflict pattern while the paired-t test was applied to determine if there is over-representation of certain specific conflict patterns for the crashes involving continuous green through lanes traffic. Lastly, the ordered probit statistical modelingtechnique was employed to investigate factors necessary for predicting injury severity level of crashes that occur at continuous green through lanes. The proportions analysis showed that there are three common types of crashes that involve CGTL traffic namely (1) sideswipe crashes caused by motorists weaving from adjacent through lanes to avoid having to stop for thered signal indication, (2) angle crashes caused by motorists turning leftfrom the minor street swerving into the CGTL, and (3) rear-end crashes caused by motorists who unexpectedly stop in the CGTL. The paired-t test results suggested that there is a significant difference between the proportions of sideswipe crashes in the CGTL direction compared to the opposite direction. On the other hand, the paired-t test results did not suggest a significant difference between the proportions of rear-end and right-angle crashes for the CGTL and normal directions. The probit model results indicated that angle crashes and crashes involving lane changing maneuver are significantly more severe compared to rear-end crashes. Probit model resultsalso showed that crashes that occurred late at night (from midnight to 6:00 am) had higher expected injury level compared to other times of the dayand older drivers (age=65 years or older) were found to raise the expected injury level.
Abstract