COMPARISON OF THE SAFETY OF LIGHTING OPTIONS ON URBAN FREEWAYS

Nationwide accident statistics show that more than 50% of fatal accidents occur during the hours of darkness. Because only 25% of travel occurs during the same period, the fatality rate is about three times higher at night than during the day. The installation of overhead lighting is a potential countermeasure to this nighttime accident problem. However, this is expensive, and much of the research to date offers inconclusive results about its effect on highway safety. This study compared the safety of continuously lighted urban freeways and urban freeways with interchange lighting only. A freeway section with continuous lighting has overhead lighting at the interchanges and between the interchanges, as opposed to overhead lighting at the interchanges only.

• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/40567
• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/56891
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, 6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Publication Date: 1995-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 4 p.
• Serial:
  • HSIS Summary Report
  • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Countermeasures; Crash data; Crash rates; Crashes; Freeways; Statistics; Urban areas
• Old TRIS Terms: Continuous lighting; Interchange lighting; Urban freeways
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00681871
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-94-188
• Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 12 2000 12:00AM