Douglas County Georgia Curve Safety Program

Finding causes of traffic crashes and creating solutions is as relevant a task for traffic engineers as at any time in history, and can often be made easier because of the high tech tools available today. A good example can be found in Douglas County Georgia in their program for identifying and prioritizing high crash locations on their local road system. This paper and the presentation prepared for the ITE 2008 Technical Conference describes the County’s methodology and project approach to identifying, verifying, prioritizing and improving severe curves on the roadway system maintained by County forces. The information presented includes crash record analysis, prioritization criteria and identification of the most relevant countermeasures. It details the use of the County Geographic Information System, aerial photography, and modern crash location methods to streamline the prioritization and design processes. Further, it describes the immediate countermeasures employed to mitigate the crash potential and the anticipated benefits for the County’s citizens. Last, it discusses the consideration, prioritization and funding of future safety projects identified by the project. The purpose of the paper is to encourage other organizations to get back to the basics. Using what is available and providing improvements through organized efforts for improved operations, addressing traffic control in a consistent and uniform manner will help reduce crashes and crash rates no matter how many times it has been done before. Basics such as building a priority listing of problems, stressing uniform application and public information is always a good approach. “Back to the basics” always begins with leadership, is furthered by involvement with other agencies and informing the public is an essential key to success.

• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

  Washington, DC  United States 

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Waters III, Marion G
• Conference:
  • ITE 2008 Technical Conference and Exhibit
  • Location: Miami FL, United States
  • Date: 2008-3-30 to 2008-4-2
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: 6p
• Monograph Title: Compendium of Technical Papers. ITE 2008 Technical Conference and Exhibit, March 30-April 2, 2008, Miami, Florida

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Crash analysis; Crash causes; Crash data; Geographic information systems; Highway curves; Highway design; Highway engineering; Highway safety; Strategic planning; Traffic crashes
• Geographic Terms: Douglas County (Georgia)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01109104
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 22 2008 8:43AM