PRIORITIES FOR ROADSIDE HAZARD MODIFICATION: A STUDY OF 300 FATAL ROADSIDE OBJECT CRASHES

Surveys of road curvature, superelevation, gradient, and number and distance from the roadway of roadside hazards were conducted at 300 sites in Georgia of fatal crashes into fixed objects and 300 comparison sites 1 mile away on the road that the vehicle likely had traveled. More than 26 percent of fatal crash sites had curvature greater than 6 degrees combined with downhill gradient of 2 percent or steeper in the roadway at or approaching the sites. Only 8 percent of comparison sites had such roadway characteristics. Half the fatal crashes occurred at or near curves greater than 6 degrees irrespective of gradient. Only 23 percent of comparison sites had such curvature and a state study found only 22 percent of roadway with curvature more than 5.5 degrees throughout the state. Nonlocal roads accounted for 83 percent of the fatal crashes into fixed objects but comprised only 33 percent of the roads in the state. Ninety- eight percent of the objects struck were within 50 feet of the pavement edge. Top priority should be given to roadside hazard modification on and near curves greater than 6 degrees, particularly those accompanied by downhill grades of 2 percent or steeper, on nonlocal roads.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was published as part of the Proceedings of the 20th Conference, 1976.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Association for Automotive Medicine

  801 Green Bay Road
  Lake Bluff, IL  United States  60044

  University of Georgia, Experiment

  Georgia Experiment Station
  Experiment, GA  United States 

  Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

  1005 North Glebe Road
  Arlington, VA  United States  22201
• Authors:
  • Wright, P H
  • Robertson, L S
• Conference:
  • This paper was published as part of the Proceedings of the 20th Conference, 1976.
• Publication Date: 1976-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 114-127

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Curvature; Fatalities; Hazards; High risk locations; Highway grades; Roadside structures; Slopes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00148993
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Report/Paper Numbers: Monograph, HS-018 603, HS-020 258
• Files: HSL, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 27 1983 12:00AM