TRAFFIC CONTROL & ROADWAY ELEMENTS - THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO HIGHWAY SAFETY/REVISED. CHAPTER 5 DRIVEWAYS

DRIVEWAYS ARE DEFINED AS PRIVATELY-OWNED ROADS WHICH CONNECT BUILDINGS AND ABUTTING GROUNDS WITH PUBLIC WAYS. HOWEVER, DRIVEWAY CONNECTIONS TO PUBLIC ROADWAYS ARE ACTUALLY INTERSECTIONS. THEREFORE, THE EFFICIENCY AND SAFETY OF DRIVEWAYS DEPENDS UPON TRAFFIC VOLUMES, THE INTERSECTION CONFIGURATION AND THE SYSTEM FOR TRAFFIC CONTROL. REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL ON ACCIDENTS IN 1968 LISTED 4.2 PER CENT AS INVOLVING DRIVEWAYS IN URBAN AREAS, AND 7.0 PER CENT INVOLVING DRIVEWAYS IN RURAL AREAS. THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS ARE DISCUSSED WHICH AFFECT THE PROBABILITY OF DRIVEWAY ACCIDENT OCCURRENCE: (1) ROUTE CHARACTERISTICS (ACCESS CONTROL, NUMBER AND TYPE OF DRIVEWAYS, TRAFFIC VOLUME, SPEED), (2) DRIVEWAY CHARACTERISTICS (TYPE OF LAND USE SERVED, DRIVEWAY VOLUME, TURNING MOVEMENTS), AND (3) CONTROL AND DESIGN FACTORS. RESEARCH SHOWS A STRONG RELATION BETWEEN INCREASED NUMBERS OF COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND INCREASED ACCIDENTS EXPRESSED ON A MILLION-VEHICLE-MILE OR ROUTE-MILE BASIS. SIMILARITIES FOUND IN DRIVEWAY ACCIDENT CHARACTERISTICS ON URBAN AND RURAL ROUTES WITH THE LEFT-TURN ENTRY MOVEMENT TO THE DRIVEWAY FOUND THE MOST CRITICAL FACTOR. RECESSED MEDIAN AREA LEFT TURN LANES ARE SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING ACCIDENTS AND THE TWO-WAY LEFT TURN LANE CONCEPT APPEARS TO MERIT FURTHER APPLICATION. THE SAFETY ASPECTS OF THE GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF DRIVEWAYS MERIT ATTENTION. RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO IDENTIFY THE CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING DRIVEWAY WIDTH AND TURNING RADII FOR VARIOUS CLASSES OF ROADWAY AND AREA DEVELOPMENT. THE EFFECTS OF DRIVEWAY SPACING FROM INTERSECTIONS, SPACING BETWEEN DRIVEWAYS AND ONE-WAY VERSUS TWO-WAY NEED TESTING.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • The Automotive Safety Foundation published the first three chapters in this series. The remaining nine chapters were published by the Highway Users Federation for Safety and Mobility.
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Users Federation for Safety and Mobility

  1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • Box, P C
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commercial buildings; Crash rates; Driveways; Geometric design; Intersections; Land use; Left turns; Rural areas; Spacing; Traffic control; Traffic crashes; Traffic volume; Turning radius; Urban areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Channelization
• Old TRIS Terms: Turning path
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220870
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 27 1970 12:00AM