01656619

Component

https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118793498

https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118793498

Rumble strips are known to be one of the most cost-effective treatments for preventing roadway departure crashes. However, in recent years some studies have found controversial results indicating that rumble strips may in fact increase the number of more severe crashes. Although these effects are estimated to be very small, highway safety agencies deploy these treatments with an expectation that they will reduce all crash types. In this paper, the authors have conducted a statistical evaluation to determine the impact of rumble strip presence on fatal and injury crashes at freeway locations. For this purpose, the authors acquired an existing database used for one of the aforementioned studies and evaluated the variables using alternative assessment methods. The results of the current study suggest that rumble strips do in fact improve the safety outcomes in rural freeways. These findings are observed to also apply to urban freeways, but the effects are not statistically significant for the study database.

18-01440

English

pp 131-141

2018

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

Print

Figures (6) ; Photos; References (15) ; Tables (7)

Crash characteristics; Crash injuries; Fatalities; Freeways; Ran off road crashes; Rumble strips

Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:22AM

• A Comparative Analysis on Performance of Severe Crash Prediction Methods
• A Multivariate Copula-Based Macro-Level Crash Count Model
• Before–After Evaluation of the Realignment of Horizontal Curves on Rural Two-Lane Roads
• Crash Modification Factors for the Flashing Yellow Arrow Treatment at Signalized Intersections
• Development of Safety Performance Functions: Incorporating Unobserved Heterogeneity and Functional Form Analysis
• Evaluating the Safety Effects of Span Wire to Mast Arm Signal Conversion
• Highway Safety Manual Calibration: Assessing Alternate Definitions of the Calibration Factor
• Joint Modeling of Traffic Incident Duration Components (Reporting, Response, and Clearance Time): A Copula-Based Approach
• Jointly Specified Spatial Priors for Bayesian Models of Crash Frequency
• Missouri-Specific Crash Prediction Model for Signalized Intersections
• Modified Mixed Generalized Ordered Response Model to Handle Misclassification in Injury Severity Data
• Safety Analysis of Interchange Functional Areas
• Safety Evaluation of the SafetyEdge Treatment for Pavement Edge Drop-Offs on Two-Lane Rural Roads