All-Weather Paint Field Evaluation

Pavement markings are a vital tool for safely navigating our nations roads; however, many standard pavement markings are difficult to see in the rain due to the refractive property of the glass beads utilized in the latex paint. Unfortunately during nighttime rain conditions, the paint, and thereby the pavement markings, are not as visible as in daytime conditions, creating a concern that drivers may have lane keeping issues when navigating through work zones. In order to resolve this concern, most states use raised pavement markers (RPMs) in conjunction with pavement markings to provide an additional visual cue to the driver on the location of the lane line. A new paint developed by 3M utilizes glass beads with two different refractive indices to increase retroreflectivity for improved visibility during nighttime rain events. Research was conducted to study drivers as they navigated through work zones, comparing standard paint to the 3M All Weather Paint (AWP) under daytime, nighttime, and rainy conditions. Four measures of effectiveness (MOEs) were used during the analysis to determine the effectiveness of the AWP retroreflectivity, speed, lane encroachment and lateral lane placement. Lane encroachment and lateral lane placement were the primary MOEs used to determine if safety had improved using the new AWP. Based upon the comparison of retroreflectivity, it was found that the AWP was more visible in nighttime conditions, especially rain events, compared to the standard paint. However, the results are inconclusive regarding an improvement in safety when using AWP.

• Record URL:
  http://www.ite.org/library/conference/compendium13/pdf/CB13C1503.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • McAvoy, Deborah S
  • Cunningham, Christopher
  • Chang, Jeff
  • Fry, Patrick
• Conference:
  • ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit
  • Location: San Diego CA
  • Date: 2013-3-3 to 2013-3-6
• Publication Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 19p
• Monograph Title: ITE 2013 Technical Conference and Exhibit

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Night visibility; Paint; Performance measurement; Refractive materials; Retroreflectivity; Road marking materials; Wet weather; Work zone safety
• Geographic Terms: North Carolina; Ohio
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01492067
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 3 2013 12:30PM