01029687

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1948-15

http://scholar.google.com...inar&publication_year=2006

This study investigated the impact of snowstorms on a roadway system and assessed winter maintenance efforts in improving highway safety from a macroscopic perspective. The Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System was used as the data source. An inverse relationship between deicing material consumption and crash counts during snowstorms is reflected in the analysis; it also implies multiple causes of snowstorm crashes. Primary factors considered in this research were the effects of various weather conditions and winter maintenance. Results showed a mixed influence of both the snowstorm severity and winter maintenance investment on road safety. That is, severity of the snowstorm in regard to duration, intensity, and wind speed increases traffic crashes and casualties with simultaneous consumption of more deicing materials and labors. The research also explicitly proves that a proactive winter maintenance effort significantly improves traffic safety. Temporal distri¬bution of crash occurrence during a snowstorm shows that a large percentage of crashes occurred during initial stages of the snowstorms, probably because snow removal activities had not yet begun. The pattern is quite similar for state-maintained highways and local roads, except that in the second half of a snowstorm, a higher percentage of crashes occur on local roads than on state highways, possibly suggesting that the different level of maintenance and use of deicing materials may play an important role. Additional research is required to quantify the effects of deicing materials specifically, particularly in regard to application rate and frequency, on highway safety.

01031686

English

pp 135-141

2006

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

0309099579

Print

Figures (1) ; References (16) ; Tables (3)

Crash analysis; Crash causes; Deicing; Highway safety; Snowstorms; State highways; Traffic safety; Winter maintenance

Local roads

Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors; I62: Winter Maintenance; I80: Accident Studies

TRIS, TRB

Mar 3 2006 10:58AM

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• Dynamic Late Merge Control at Highway Work Zones: Evaluation, Observations, and Suggestions
• Effectiveness of Alternative Chemicals for Snow Removal on Highways
• Effects of Outsourcing and Performance-Based Contracting on Innovations
• Effects of the Provision of Wide-Area Snowstorm Information on Winter Driving
• Estimating Interstate Highway Capacity for Short-Term Work Zone Lane Closures: Development of Methodology
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• Integrated Approach to Pavement Marking Management
• Internal Traffic Control Plans and Worker Safety Planning Tool
• Motorist Comprehension of Traffic Control Devices for Mobile Operations
• Regression Tree Models to Predict Winter Storm Costs
• Understanding Statistics in Maintenance Quality Assurance Programs
• Whether Weather Matters to Traffic Demand, Traffic Safety, and Traffic Operations and Flow