FINAL REPORT ON THE MINNESOTA ROADSIDE STUDY

ACCIDENTS RELATED TO SPEED, TANGENT SECTIONS AND INTERSECTIONS WERE STUDIED. THE FOUR-LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAYS HAD THE LOWEST ACCIDENT RATE OF ALL ACCIDENTS STUDIED IN MINNESOTA AND ARE, THEREFORE, PRESUMED TO BE THE SAFEST. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT TRAFFIC VOLUMES INFLUENCE ACCIDENT RATES. CURVE SECTIONS AT THE ENDS OF LONG TANGENTS HAD HIGHER ACCIDENT RATES THAN WERE FOUND ON CURVES AT THE ENDS OF SHORT TANGENT SECTIONS. CURVES WITH RESTRICTIVE SIGHT DISTANCES PRODUCED AN AVERAGE ACCIDENT RATE TWICE THE RATE FOR TANGENT SECTIONS WITH RESTRICTIVE SIGHT DISTANCES. FOUR- WAY INTERSECTIONS HAD CONSISTENTLY HIGHER ACCIDENT RATES THAN THREE-WAY INTERSECTIONS WHEN TAKEN EITHER AS A GROUP OR BY COMPARABLE INTERSECTIONAL VOLUMES OR BY PERCENT OF CROSS TRAFFIC. WHEN ROAD SECTIONS WERE SEGREGATED BY TRAFFIC VOLUME GROUPS, A GOOD DEGREE OF CORRELATION WAS APPARENT BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF ACCESS POINTS PER MILE AND THE ACCIDENT RATE. HIGHWAY SECTIONS HAVING A HIGH FREQUENCY OF ADVERTISING SIGNS HAD HIGH ACCIDENT RATES. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE OCCURRENCE OF MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED ON THE BASIS OF ROADWAY ELEMENTS AND ROADSIDE FEATURES. HOWEVER, IT IS EVIDENT THAT THESE VARIOUS ELEMENTS AND FEATURES, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, MAKE VARYING DEGREES OF CONTRIBUTION TO ACCIDENT OCCURRENCE.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/55/55-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 55, pp 33-37, 1 FIG, 4 TAB Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Kipp, O L
• Publication Date: 1952

Media Info

• Monograph Title: Land acquisition and control of adjacent area
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 55
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash rates; Divided highways; Four lane highways; Intersections; Roadside advertising; Roadside improvement; Roadside structures; Sight distance; Traffic crashes; Traffic speed; Traffic volume
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204737
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 21 1994 12:00AM