Lateral position of traffic negotiating horizontal bends

The lateral position of vehicles at horizontal curves and roundabout circles has been studied, and it has been observed that drivers tend to straighten their travel path as much as possible when negotiating these bends in a cornercutting fashion. In addition to skid resistance loss, this behaviour results in the early scuffing and removal of road markings. Preliminary data were collected in Northern Ireland at eight different sites over 15 lanes in total. It was found that the expected geometrical location of the wheel path is not the same as the actual observed location at certain sections of highways. On horizontal curves, the most travelled wheel path is shifted towards the convex side of the curve, and this shift increases with decreasing radius, such as at roundabouts, where it reaches a maximum displacement. This shift was about 140 cm in the outer circles of roundabouts and about 60 cm in the inner circles. For horizontal curves the figure was in the region of 30-40 cm. (A)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0965092X
• Authors:
  • GUNAY, B
  • WOODWARD, D
  • EL SAWWAF, M
• Publication Date: 2007-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 1-11
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. TRANSPORT
  • Volume: 160
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Thomas Telford Limited
  • ISSN: 0965-092X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Driving; Highway curves; Location; Road markings; Roads; Roundabouts; Skidding; Surfaces; Traffic lanes; Vehicles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Horizontal
• ITRD Terms: 2872: Bend (road); 2992: Carriageway; 562: Carriageway marking; 1855: Driving (veh); 2755: Highway; 9029: Horizontal; 9061: Location; 438: Roundabout; 1645: Skidding; 6438: Surface; 1255: Vehicle
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment; I71: Traffic Theory; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01043416
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 6 2007 9:06AM