COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE VARIOUS TYPES OF SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS, THE 634 STUDIES WERE CLASSIFIED BY 17 IMPROVEMENT CODES. IN FOUR OF THE SEVEN TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS FATALITIES WERE ELIMINATED, TWO SHOWED NO CHANGE, IN FOUR AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES WAS EXPERIENCED, AND IN THE REMAINING SEVEN FATALITIES WERE REDUCED BY VARIABLE AMOUNTS LESS THAN 100 PERCENT. NONE OF THE CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF FATALITIES WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. IN TWO OF THE SEVEN TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS PERSONAL INJURIES WERE INCREASED, AND IN THE REMAINING 15 PERSONAL INJURIES WERE REDUCED BY VARIABLE AMOUNTS LESS THAN 100 PERCENT. THIRTEEN OF THE 15 REDUCTIONS IN PERSONAL INJURIES WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. IF THE TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS WERE COMPARED ON THE BASIS OF EQUIVALENT UNIFORM ANNUAL CONSTRUCTION COSTS PER ACCIDENT REDUCED, THEN, IN SOME CASES, DIFFERENT TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS EMERGE AS MORE EFFECTIVE. TABLE 4 SHOWS, THAT ON THE BASIS OF CONSTRUCTION COST EXPENDED PER ACCIDENT REDUCED, THE FOUR MOST COST- EFFECTIVE TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS WERE, IN ORDER OF EFFECTIVENESS, INSTALLATION OF STRIPING AND/OR DELINEATORS; INSTALLATION OF FLASHING BEACONS, INSTALLING OR UPGRADING OF TRAFFIC SIGNALS, TRAFFIC SIGNALS, INSTALLED OR IMPROVED. THE RESULTS IN PART I SEEM TO INDICATE THAT CERTAIN TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN OTHERS. HOWEVER, IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT MOST OF THE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS DESCRIBED IN THIS BROCHURE WERE MADE ON RURAL HIGHWAYS OFTEN HAVING LOW TRAFFIC VOLUMES. ALSO, SOME OF THE LESS EFFECTIVE TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS ARE NOT, IN REALITY, SPOT IMPROVEMENTS AND ARE, BY THEIR VERY NATURE, SPEED INCREASERS WHICH WOULD TEND TO MODIFY THE SAFETY EFFECTS OF THE IMPROVEMENTS. FINALLY, THESE ARE BUT 634 OF THOUSANDS OF SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS PROJECTS; THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEY REPRESENT THE TOTAL IS UNKNOWN.

• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Dale, C W
• Publication Date: 1973-5

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Benefit cost analysis; Costs; Fatalities; Highways; Improvements; Injuries; Prevention; Safety
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222241
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 14 1973 12:00AM