Motorway accidents in Finland - The safety potential of the shoulder rumble strips
Moottoritieonnettomuudet Suomessa - Taristavien tiemerkintojen turvallisuuspotentiaali
The aim of this study was to find out the numbers and severities of the motorway accidents in Finland. The final goal was to define the numbers of the fatal drift-off the road accidents caused by falling asleep - the accidents that could be prevented in future by using effective shoulder rumble strips. The investigated accident data consists of the Finnra database and the detailed fatal accident reports of the VALT investigation teams. The general results show that the rates of the fatal and injury motorway accidents during years 1999-2003 vary but no decreasing trend could be found. According the latest IRTAD statistics the number of the fatalities per billion vehicle kilometres is higher in Finland than in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden. However, the figures represent different year's accidents. In this study the annual fatality rates were investigated based on several resources. In some years Finnish figures are higher compared to other three countries, in some years the figures are at the same level. On average it seems the fatality rate on Finnish motorways is higher than in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden, but the gap is smaller than could be concluded from IRTAD statistics. The Finnish motorway risk values are higher in this comparison as well as the Finnish key figures related to the general traffic safety are worse in Finland than in the comparison countries. During the years 1999-2003 there occurred 26 fatal run-off-the-road route section accidents on the Finnish motorways. In twelve cases the driver fell asleep. In all those twelve cases the encroachment angle was gentle and the vehicle drifted off the carriageway. In other words these are cases which could be prevented using the shoulder rumble strips. The annual reduction could be up to 2.4 fatal accidents which means the savings of up to 5,8 million euros in the accident costs. More than 50% of the motorway accidents are caused by running off the road. For this reason the roadside safety must be considered as an important issue also in the future. Based on the results of this study as well as the previous studies the road users should be protected against all the hazards on the roadside. In recent years guardrails have been made longer in the motorway sections with underpasses. Same measures should be carried out with less well protected bridge piers. The ramped guardrail ends have proved to be particularly dangerous and need safety improving measures like replacement with energy absorbing terminals. This report may be found at http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/julkaisut/pdf/3200936_vmoottoritiet_taristavatviivat.pdf
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Availability:
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Authors:
- KELKKA, M
- SUHONEN, K
- Publication Date: 2005
Language
- Finnish
Media Info
- Pagination: 38p+app8
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Serial:
- TIEHALLINNON SELVITYKSIA, FINNRA REPORTS
- Volume: 3200936
- Issue Number: 24/2005
- Publisher: Finnish Road Administration
- ISSN: 1457-9871
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Crash rates; Crashes; Fatalities; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Freeways; Prevention; Rumble strips; Safety
- Geographic Terms: Finland
- ITRD Terms: 1643: Accident; 1661: Accident prevention; 1612: Accident rate; 1602: Fatality; 2222: Fatigue (human); 8035: Finland; 2752: Motorway; 2849: Rumble strip
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I80: Accident Studies; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01014082
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: TRL
- ISBN: 951-803-494-X
- Files: ITRD
- Created Date: Dec 22 2005 1:56PM