Improving Safety at High-Speed Rural Intersections

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) prepares annual reports that identify intersections and segments on state roads that require attention due to the excessive number and severity of crashes. Many of these identified intersections are two-way stop-controlled (TWSC) intersections on rural multi-lane roads with 55 or 60 mi/h speed limits. Various road design and human factors may contribute to the troublesome level of safety at Indiana high-speed rural intersections. Some of these safety factors have already been identified while other factors still await identification. This paper looks first at past research on safety at high-speed intersections to learn about known safety factors and to identify proven and proposed countermeasures. Next, extensive data, representing 557 Indiana TWSC intersections, are analyzed with statistical modeling to reevaluate some of the safety countermeasures found in the literature and to identify new ones. The developed trivariate ordered probit model estimates the effects of design, traffic, and land-use variables on crash severity and frequency at the studied intersections. The results are then used to estimate the possible reduction of fatal, injury, and property damage crashes associated with certain modifications of intersection geometry. Our findings show that adding acceleration lanes, increasing the intersection angle, widening medians more than 80 feet, and improving the recognizability of intersections considerably contribute to improving intersection safety.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conferences/2011/RSS/3/Leckrone,S.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 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
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Leckrone, Samuel J
  • Tarko, Andrew P
  • Anastasopoulos, Panagiotis Ch
• Conference:
  • 3rd International Conference on Road Safety and Simulation
  • Location: Indianapolis Indiana, United States
  • Date: 2011-9-14 to 2011-9-16
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 19p
• Monograph Title: 3rd International Conference on Road Safety and Simulation

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Crash severity; Fatalities; High speed vehicles; Intersections; Rural highways; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Two way stop controlled intersections
• Geographic Terms: Indiana
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01506183
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 30 2014 1:14PM