ONE-WAY GUARDRAIL VEHICLE ARRESTING SYSTEM

THE ONE-WAY GUARDRAIL VEHICLE ARRESTING SYSTEM WAS SUBJECTED TO 4 FULL-SCALE VEHICLE CRASH TESTS. THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF 2 CONTINUOUS PARALLEL LENGTHS OF GUARDRAIL INSTALLED APPROXIMATELY 12 FT APART ON A HIGHWAY MEDIAN. EACH GUARDRAIL IS CONSTRUCTED SO THAT A VEHICLE THAT IS OUT OF CONTROL WILL LAY DOWN THE FIRST GUARDRAIL IT ENCOUNTERS WHEN TRAVELING INTO THE MEDIAN. ONCE THE VEHICLE CROSSES THE FIRST GUARDRAIL, IT IS TRAPPED BETWEEN THE RIGID FACES OF GUARDRAIL ON BOTH SIDES AND CANNOT REENTER THE HIGHWAY IT HAS LEFT OR CROSS THE MEDIAN STRIP INTO THE OPPOSING TRAFFIC. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM WAS TO DETERMINE IF THE ONE-WAY GUARDRAIL COULD ARREST ERRANT VEHICLES TRAVELING AT VELOCITIES OF APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH AND IMPACTING AT ANGLES OF 10 TO 30 DEG. THE ONE-WAY GUARDRAIL VEHICLE ARRESTING SYSTEM PERFORMED AS DESIGNED IN 3 OF THE 4 TESTS CONDUCTED. FROM THE TEST RESULTS, THIS SYSTEM WOULD SEEM TO BE AN ADEQUATE DEVICE FOR CONTAINING VEHICLES WITH VELOCITIES SOMEWHAT LESS THAN 60 MPH OR ANGLES OF ATTACK SLIGHTLY LESS THAN 30 DEG. ALL TESTS IN WHICH THE VEHICLES WERE CONTAINED SHOW DECELERATION LEVELS WELL WITHIN THE TOLERANCE LIMITS OF RESTRAINED HUMANS. THE SYSTEM COULD BE USED IN CERTAIN PROBLEM AREAS WHERE THE RISK OF A SECONDARY COLLISION IS UNACCEPTABLY HIGH WHEN A VEHICLE REBOUNDS FROM CONTACT WITH A GUARDRAIL OR WHERE A DISABLED CAR WOULD BLOCK TRAFFIC THROUGH AN AREA OF LIMITED ACCESS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr107/107-012.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 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:

  Highway Research Board (HRB)

  Washington, DC   
• Authors:
  • Ivey, Don L
  • Hirsch, T J
• Conference:
  • Second Western Summer Meeting
  • Location: Salt Lake City Utah, United States
  • Date: 1969-8-11 to 1969-8-13
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 109-118
• Monograph Title: Highway safety
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 107
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash tests; Crashes; Deceleration; Frontal crashes; Guardrails; Median barriers; Motor vehicles; One way streets; Prevention; Rebound; Safety; Testing; Traffic crashes; Traffic incidents
• Uncontrolled Terms: Disabled vehicles; Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203461
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jul 21 1970 12:00AM