FOG AND ROAD TRAFFIC

THICK FOG OCCURS IN GREAT BRITAIN ON ABOUT 10 DAYS EACH YEAR. OVERALL SOME 2 PERCENT OF ALL ROAD CASUALTIES OCCUR IN FOGGY WEATHER. ALTHOUGH THE TOATL NUMBER OF MOTORWAY FOG ACCIDENTS IS SMALL, ACCIDENTS PER KILOMETER ARE MORE NUMEROUS THAN ON OTHER ROADS AND MORE SERIOUS. THE PHYSICS OF FOG AND THE PROSPECTS OF REDUCING THE NUMBER OF FOG ACCIDENTS BY FOG DISPERSAL, BETTER WARNING, IMPROVED LIGHTING, AND THE USE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC AND ACCOUSTIC RADAR ARE DISCUSSED. CURRENT VALUATIONS OF ACCIDENT COST ARE USED TO ESTIMATE THE ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE ON VEHICLES AND ROADS THAT MIGHT BE JUSTIFIED ASSUMING THAT IT RESULTED IN A HALVING OF FOG ACCIDENTS. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THE MOST WORTHWHILE COUNTERMEASURE TO FOG ACCIDENTS MAY BE FOUND IN SYSTEMS OF TRAFFIC CONTROL THAT HAVE A WIDER APPLICATION THAN ONLY IN FOG. /HSL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept No TRRL-LR-446
• Corporate Authors:

  Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)

  Wokingham, Berkshire  United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • Moore, R L
  • COOPER, L
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 47 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Crash rates; Crashes; Fog; Highway safety; Visibility; Warning systems
• Uncontrolled Terms: Reduced visibility
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222203
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 11 1974 12:00AM