Overview of Safety Countermeasures for Roadway Departure Crashes

A roadway departure (RwD) crash happens when a vehicle leaves the traveled way (crossing an edgeline or a centerline). These crashes, comprising run-off-road (ROR) and cross-median head on collisions, tend to be more severe than other crash types. In 2013, RwD crashes accounted for 56 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities. Inattention or fatigue, an avoidance maneuver, or traveling too fast are the common reasons a driver may leave the travel lane. Roadway and roadside geometric design features (e.g., lane and shoulder widths, horizontal curvatures, sideslope, and clear zones) play a significant role in whether or not human error results in a crash. To achieve the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Toward Zero Deaths vision, many safety countermeasures have recently been implemented by state departments of transportation and local agencies to mitigate RwD crashes. This paper presents a summary of various case examples to provide transportation practitioners with a good understanding of the effectiveness of RwD safety countermeasures.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFB20 Standing Committee on Roadside Safety Design.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Jalayer, Mohammad
  • Zhou, Huaguo
  • Satterfield, Cathy M
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Fatalities; Frontal crashes; Highway safety; Ran off road crashes; Safety engineering
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01590399
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-4039
• Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 17 2016 12:00PM