IMPACT OF HIGHWAY METRICATION ON TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND LONG-TERM TRENDS IN VEHICLE SPEEDS FOR ROADS WITH RESULTANT INCREASED SPEED LIMITS

The impact of metrication of roadside speed signs upon vehicle speeds was investigated for four different road types using concealed roadside radar. The study was conducted one year after metrication to determine whether there were any long-term changes in traffic patterns in addition to the short-term influences reported previously. There was no evidence for any tendency for drivers to increase traveled speed on roads for which metrication resulted in an increase in the speed limit. Analysis of accident statistics for the month following metrication revealed no significant increase in accident rate over that projected from nine-year accident trends. It is concluded that highway metrication does not present the safety hazard suggested by critics of the metrication program.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1329271
• Corporate Authors:

  Human Factors Society

  Johns Hopkins University Press
  Baltimore, MD  United States  21218
• Authors:
  • Matthews, M L
• Publication Date: 1979-8

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 503-507
• Serial:
  • Human Factors
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Sage Publications, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0018-7208
  • EISSN: 1547-8181
  • Serial URL: http://hfs.sagepub.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Analysis; Applications; Behavior; Crash rates; Driver performance; Drivers; Hazards; Metric system; Motor vehicles; Personnel performance; Roadside; Speed; Speed limits; Traffic control devices; Traffic crashes; Traffic signs; Traffic speed; Trend (Statistics)
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway signs (Signals and markings); Metrication
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00311157
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-026 713
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 26 1980 12:00AM