DRIVING DYNAMIC CONSIDERATIONS: A COMPARISON OF GERMAN AND AMERICAN FRICTION COEFFICIENTS FOR HIGHWAY DESIGN
One of the main safety goals in developing new German Guidelines for the Design of Rural Highways was to overcome previous driving dynamic deficiencies and to enhance traffic safety by increasing friction supply wherever possible. The objectives of this paper are to discuss the German approach in determining new tangential and side friction factors with respect to design speed and to compare these values with those currently in use in the United States. The comparison showed that for design speeds greater than 80 km/h (50 mph), the maximum allowable tangential and side friction factors used in the United States are definitely higher than the German values. Accordingly, the computations for minimum stopping-sight distances and minimum radii of curve showed for all investigated cases and driving dynamic models smaller values in the United States than in Germany. Therefore, there is no doubt that, on the one hand, the American rural highway design is more economic but, on the other hand, the German values provide higher friction supply in critical driving situations. Finally, a preliminary study between road sections conducted according to the new German design guidelines and those with old horizontal and vertical alignment showed, on average, a 1.67 times lower accident rate for the redesigned road sections. This result is confirmed by a new research report for the Minister of Transportation of the Federal Republic of Germany, which will soon be published.
- Record URL:
- Summary URL:
-
Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
-
Supplemental Notes:
- Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Geometric Design. 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:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Lamm, Ruediger
-
Conference:
- 63rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
- Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
- Date: 1984-1-16 to 1984-1-20
- Publication Date: 1984
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 13-20
- Monograph Title: GEOMETRICS AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
-
Serial:
- Transportation Research Record
- Issue Number: 960
- Publisher: Transportation Research Board
- ISSN: 0361-1981
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Coefficient of friction; Crash rates; Curvature; Design speed; Driving; Foreign; Highway design; Radius; Stopping sight distance; Traffic safety
- Old TRIS Terms: Radius of curvature
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00391639
- Record Type: Publication
- ISBN: 0309037069
- Report/Paper Numbers: HS-038 209
- Files: HSL, TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Aug 31 1985 12:00AM