SIMULATION OF CROSS-MEDIAN CRASHES

THE RESULTS OF A SIMULATION STUDY OF VEHICLES CROSSING THE MEDIAN OF A 6-LANE EXPRESSWAY AT ANGLES OF 10 AND 50 DEG. ARE REPORTED. THE COMPUTER SIMULATION MODEL ALLOWED AUTOMOBILES TO BE RANDOMLY RELEASED TO CROSS THE MEDIAN AT A CONSTANT SPEED AND TO ENCROACH INTO OPPOSING LANES. NO PROVISION WAS MADE FOR THE DRIVER TO BRAKE OR REGAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. OPPOSING VEHICLES WERE GENERATED BY THE NEGATIVE EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION. THE EFFECTS OF THE FOLLOWING VARIABLES ON PROBABILITY OF CRASH AND AVERAGE IMPACT SPEED WERE STUDIED: CROSSING ANGLE, LANE VOLUME, SPEED OF OPPOSING VEHICLES, SPEED OF CROSSING VEHICLES; MEDIAN WIDTH, PERCEPTION-REACTION TIME, AND SKID RESISTANCE. IT WAS FOUND THAT BOTH PROBABILITY OF CRASH AND AVERAGE IMPACT SPEED ARE MOST STRONGLY RELATED TO CROSSING ANGLE, MEDIAN WIDTH, AND SPEED OF THE CROSSING VEHICLE. CRASH PROBABILITY AND IMPACT SPEED ARE MORE FUNDAMENTALLY DEPENDENT ON THE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE VEHICLE TO CROSS THE MEDIAN. AN EVALUATION OF THE SIMULATION MODEL AND A DISCUSSION OF THE APPLICABILITY OF THE RESULTS TO REAL TRAFFIC CONDITIONS ARE GIVEN. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1972/388/388-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Operational Effects of Geometrics. 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.
• Authors:
  • Wright, Paul H
  • Arrilaga, Bert
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 13-21
• Monograph Title: Freeway operations and control
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 388
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Medians; Opposing traffic; Railroad grade crossings; Simulation; Speed; Vehicles
• Subject Areas: Highways; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221781
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: No 390 PP 36-9
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 19 1972 12:00AM