OPERATIONAL EFFECTS AND SAFETY HAZARDS INVOLVED IN TRANSPORTING 14-FOOT WIDE LOADS IN VIRGINIA

Currently in Virginia, extra legal width loads up to and including those 12 feet in width are allowed to be operated on the highway on a routine permit basis. In 1975, the Virginia Housing Study Commission submitted a report to the state legislature endorsing a proposal to transport considerable numbers of 14-foot wide housing units on the state's highways. As a 14-foot wide load exceeds the width of a standard 12-foot traffic lane, the purpose of the study was to determine the detrimental operational effects and safety hazards involved in permitting 14-foot units on the highway. The scope was limited to a literature survey and a review of the experience of hauling 12-foot wide loads in Virginia. Although accident records indicate that wide loads are not directly involved in an inordinate number of accidents, 146 foot wide loads were found to frequently encroach on adjacent traffic lanes and thus create inconvenience and safety hazards for other highway users. /HRIS/

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• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/18846
• Corporate Authors:

  Virginia Highway and Transportation Research Council

  Charlottesville, VA  United States 
• Authors:
  • Parker, M R
  • Spencer, J A
• Publication Date: 1976-1

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 38 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash reports; Hazards; Highway safety; Loads; Operations; Traffic lanes; Width
• Old TRIS Terms: Operational effects
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00148793
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Safety Council Safety Research Info Serv
• Report/Paper Numbers: VHTRC-76-R33
• Files: NTL, TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 30 1977 12:00AM