WRONG-WAY DRIVING /PHASE 2/
THE PROBLEM OF WRONG-WAY DRIVING ON CALIFORNIA FREEWAYS AND EXPRESSWAYS WAS INVESTIGATED IN TWO SEPARATE STUDIES WHICH FURNISHED INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAGNITUDE OF THE INCIDENTS, THE ORIGIN OF THE WRONG-WAY MOVES, AGE AND SOBRIETY OF THE DRIVERS, TIME OF DAY, AND OTHER DETAILS OF THE OCCURRENCES THEMSELVES. EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE OCCURRENCES OF WRONG-WAY DRIVING CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO GENERAL AREAS' /1/ PREVENTION OF WRONG-WAY MOVEMENT, AND /2/ DETECTION, WARNING, AND PHYSICAL RESTRAINT. WITH REGARD TO PREVENTION, IT APPEARS THAT SOME PARTICULAR RAMPS, INCLUDING THE SCISSORS OR CUL-DE-SAC TYPE, TRUMPET AND LEFT-SIDE FREEWAY OFF-RAMP CONNECTIONS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO WRONG- WAY MOVEMENTS. AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE GEOMETRIC DETAILS OF RAMP TERMINAL DESIGN IS UNDER WAY, USING MOVIE CAMERAS ACTIVATED BY WRONG-WAY VEHICLES. SIGNING AND PAVEMENT MARKINGS WERE STUDIED BOTH IN THE LABORATORY AND ON THE HIGHWAY, AND IT IS EXPECTED THAT STATEWIDE MEASURES NOW BEING TAKEN TO UPGRADE AND SUPPLEMENT THE EXISTING SIGNING AND MARKINGS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE WRONG-WAY DRIVING.A WARNING DEVICE, CONSISTING OF AN ILLUMINATED SIGN, LIGHTS AND HORNS, ALL ACTIVATED BY A WRONG-WAY VEHICLE, WAS TESTED AT ONE OFF-RAMP. AT THIS LOCATION, IT WAS EFFECTIVE IN STOPPING THE MAJORITY OF WRONG-WAY DRIVERS. THE LAST RESORT TO PREVENT WRONG-WAY DRIVING IS SOME DEGREE OF PHYSICAL RESTRAINT. TO BE EFFECTIVE, A BARRIER MUST EITHER DISABLE A VEHICLE OR REMOVE IT FROM THE ROADWAY. AT THE PRESENT TIME, THERE IS NO KNOWN PHYSICAL BARRIER THAT IS BOTH EFFECTIVE AND SAFE. A THIRD PHASE OF THE WRONG-WAY STUDY IS UNDER WAY TO EVALUATE THE NEW SIGNS AND MARKINGS BY A THIRD INCIDENT STUDY, INVESTIGATE RAMP TERMINAL DESIGN IN DETAIL, CONTINUE TESTING THE AUTOMATIC WARNING DEVICE, AND CONTINUE TO SEEK A FEASIBLE PHYSICAL BARRIER.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Paper sponsored by Committee on Highway Safety and presented at the 45th Annual Meeting. 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.
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Authors:
- Tamburri, T N
- Theobald, D J
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Discussers:
- Litchford, J O
- Cantilli, Edmund J
- Mateos, Manuel
- Tamburri, T N
- Theobald, D J
- Publication Date: 1966
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 41-98
- Monograph Title: Traffic control devices
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Serial:
- Highway Research Record
- Issue Number: 151
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Barriers (Roads); Cameras; Constraints; Crash investigation; Detection and identification; Detectors; Drivers; Geometric design; Motion; Prevention; Ramps; Road markings; Studies; Traffic signs; Warning systems; Wrong way driving
- Uncontrolled Terms: Barriers
- Geographic Terms: California
- Old TRIS Terms: Traffic marking
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00219869
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Nov 18 1994 12:00AM