Highway safety assessment and improvement through crash prediction by injury severity and vehicle damage using Multivariate Poisson-Lognormal model and Joint Negative Binomial-Generalized Ordered Probit Fractional Split model

•Crash prediction by injury severity and vehicle damage was conducted and compared.•Multivariate Poisson-Lognormal (MVPLN) models were estimated.•Joint Negative Binomial-Generalized Ordered Probit Fractional Split (NB-GOPFS) models were estimated.•Unobserved heterogeneity was accommodated by both models.•A surrogate measure for injury severity was evaluated.