A latent class multinomial logit analysis of factors associated with pedestrian injury severity of inter-urban highway crashes

Abstract Over the years, the uncontrolled interaction of human and high-speed vehicular activities at settlement areas along highways in Ghana has resulted in many pedestrian fatalities and injuries. This phenomenon has been attributed to the land-use and right-of-way planning and lack of pedestrian crossing facilities for safe crossing of highways. The slow response to developing strategies to reduce pedestrian fatalities along the nation’s highways has led to many public protests. To advance a data-driven and evidence-based approach to finding appropriate countermeasures, this study investigated the factors associated with pedestrian injury outcomes of inter-urban highway crashes in Ghana. Latent class multinomial logit modeling method was employed to account for unobserved heterogeneity in a five-year pedestrian-vehicle crash data recorded on highways in Ghana. The model estimation results show that speeding, hit and run and crashes that involve buses were more likely to result in fatal injury while crashes that occurred at highway sections with no shoulder were more likely to result in hospitalized injury. The findings of the study provide basis for the development of appropriate countermeasures to reduce the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries on high-speed inter-urban highways in Ghana and other countries with similar characteristics in the sub-region.