Statewide Analysis of Guardrails, Curves and Crashes

The presence of guardrails and the locations of horizontal and vertical curves, all with respect to crash incidents, are important road safety topics that have been examined separately. Since guardrails and curves, horizontal ones in particular, are often co-located (i.e., many guardrails are placed along curves and many curves have guardrails), it is highly likely that these road features are correlated in space and confound each other’s relationship with crashes. Both guardrails and curves may vary in their attributes by location (e.g., guardrails in coverage, size, offset; curves in radii, grades, length) and may relate to crashes in positive and negative ways. Statistical models of crash incidents with a focus on one of these features will, therefore, need to account for the others, while also controlling for many of the same relevant factors (e.g., seasons, times of day, traffic volumes, and other road characteristics). As such, guardrails and curves are examined together with crashes in this statewide study using a single, holistic approach. The primary goals of this work is to assess the impacts of guardrails, and horizontal and vertical curves on crash incident outcomes in the state of Vermont and to help guide the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) in developing policies regarding the use and co-locations of these road features.

• Record URL:
  http://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot/files/planning/documents/planning/TRC%2015-004%20Guardrails%20Curves%20and%20Crashes%20%28Final%20Report%29.pdf
• Record URL:
  http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/research/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-15-004.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Cover date: June 2016.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Vermont, Burlington

  Transportation Research Center
  210 Colchester Avenue
  Burlington, VT  United States  05405-1757

  Vermont Agency of Transportation

  Montpelier, VT  United States 

  Department of Transportation

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Lee, Brian H Y
  • Aizpuru, Paola Rekalde
  • Neely, Sean
• Publication Date: 2015-1-31

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 50p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Geometric design; Guardrails; Highway curves; Highway safety; Location; Statistical analysis
• Candidate Terms: Geospatial analysis
• Geographic Terms: Vermont
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01633403
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRC 15-004
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 28 2017 10:42AM