THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A HAZARD RATING INDEX FOR URBAN INTERSECTION

A VERY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF TRAFFIC ENGINEERING IS A VALID, WORKABLE MEANS OF ANALYZING THE CAUSAL FACTORS OF INTERSECTION ACCIDENTS AND THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF THE VARIOUS PARAMETERS WHICH BEAR UPON THE PROBLEM. THE CURRENT METHOD OF USING THE STANDARD ACCIDENT RATE COUPLED WITH AN EXERCISE IN JUDGMENT FOR EACH AND EVERY TROUBLE SPOT IS INCONSISTENT, UNSURE AND UNPROFESSIONAL. BY DRAWING UPON PREVIOUS STUDIES THIS WRITER HOPES TO DEVELOP A USABLE SYSTEMATED METHOD WHEREBY CERTAIN KNOWN, CONTRIBUTING FACTORS CAN BE PROCESSED TO OBTAIN A RESULT WHICH IS A MEASURE OF HAZARD AND A BASIS FOR ESTABLISHING A PRIORITY ARRAY FOR IMPROVEMENTS. WHAT BEGAN AS AN ANALYSIS OF THE TOTAL INTERSECTION, EVOLVED INTO AN ANALYSIS OF INTERSECTION APPROACHES. OF ALL THE PARAMETERS WHICH INFLUENCE THE VEHICLE AND THE DRIVER, THE WIDTH OF THE APPROACH, THE DISTANCE ACROSS THE INTERSECTION, THE NUMBER OF CONFLICT POINTS AND THE NUMBER OF LEFT TURNS ARE USED TO REFLECT FRICTION, EXPOSURE TIME AND RATE. THESE, PLUS SIGNALIZATION, ARE COMBINED WITH A VEHICLE AND ACCIDENT COUNT TO DETERMINE A HAZARD LEVEL FOR EACH INTERSECTION APPROACH.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Washington, Seattle

  Seattle, WA  United States  98195
• Authors:
  • Beers, G E
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 46 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Approach lanes; Crash rates; Hazards; Improvements; Intersections; Left turns; Methodology; Traffic crashes; Traffic signals; Urban areas
• Old TRIS Terms: Intersection approach
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222284
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 13 2004 5:24PM