WARNING FLASHERS AT RURAL INTERSECTIONS

This project sought to understand the effects of warning flashers on the safety of rural intersections. Researchers conducted four separate studies: a literature review; an opinion survey of a sample of Minnesota motorists who lived outside urban areas; an analysis of accident data for rural intersections comparing accident rates three years before and three years after the installation of various configurations of warning flashers; and a field study at the intersection of U.S. 14 with MN 52 in Eyota, Minnesota. This last study included a baseline period, followed by a phased implementation of various warning flasher configurations, with a week or so between phases. Researchers concluded that none of the four studies unequivocally supported the effectiveness of warning flashers at rural intersections in promoting safety at rural intersections. While driver alertness or awareness to potential hazards at the intersection may have been enhanced by the installation of warning flashers, this project did not provide data that would demonstrate such enhanced alertness or awareness.

• Record URL:
  http://www.dot.state.mn.us/research/pdf/1998-01.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/20000/20700/20734/PB98144116.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

  HumanFIRST Program, 111 Church Street, SE
  Minneapolis, MN  United States  55455

  Minnesota Department of Transportation

  395 John Ireland Boulevard
  St Paul, MN  United States  55155
• Authors:
  • Stackhouse, S
  • Cassidy, P
• Publication Date: 1996-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 83 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Crash rates; Data collection; Field studies; Flashers; Guides to the literature; Highway safety; Intersections; Literature reviews; Measures of effectiveness; Public opinion; Rural areas; Surveys
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness; Rural intersections
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I73: Traffic Control; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00748827
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MN/RC-1998/01, Final Report
• Contract Numbers: 72995 TOC #172
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, STATEDOT
• Created Date: May 29 1998 12:00AM