SETTING PRIORITIES FOR REDUCING UTILITY POLE CRASHES

Very little has changed in the past 50 years in terms of the placement of utility poles near public streets and highways. Numerous studies have been conducted in the past two decades to better understand the factors contributing to utility pole crashes. A 1984 Federal Highway Administration study revealed much information about utility pole crashes. It found that relocating poles further from the road would increase the clearance distance to the poles and reduce the number of pole crashes; that wood poles, particularly those with larger diameters and in areas with higher speed limits, are associated with higher crash severities; and that placement of poles on the outside of sharp horizontal curves or close to busy intersections is a poor choice, since they are more likely to be struck than in other locations. After examining this problem, this presentation discusses countermeasures for utility pole crashes and offers recommended steps for reducing utility pole crashes.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec030/ec030.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00978515
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This presentation appears in Transportation Research Board Circular E-C030, Utility Safety: Mobilized for Action and State, City and Utility Initiatives in Roadside Safety, which contains presentations from TRB Committee on Utilities (A2A07) from the 79th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January 9-13, 2000, Washington, D.C. 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:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Zegeer, C V
• Publication Date: 2001-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: p. 9-31
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Circular
  • Issue Number: E-C030
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0097-8515

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Crash severity; Highway curves; Intersections; Location; Recommendations; Traffic crashes; Utility poles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Wooden poles
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00812469
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: E-C030
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 13 2001 12:00AM