Highlights Adverse road-weather increases speed variability, warranting variable speed limits. Weather-responsive variable speed limits proposed for a cold region rural highway. Speed limits proposed based on the probability of speed being safe and complied. Speed limits recommended to be reduced in extreme road-weather conditions.
Abstract Weather-responsive Variable Speed Limit (WRVSL) systems treat speed limits as weather-dependent random variables, as opposed to the conventional static speed limits. This study (i) evaluates drivers’ response to a fixed speed limit in different road-weather conditions, and (ii) proposes an effective approach to set WRVSLs, for rural divided highways located in extremely cold regions. Study data: road-weather, and speed data, collected from a rural highway (fixed speed limit = 110 km/h), are used to (i) estimate the 85th percentile speeds of population-level speed distributions, and (ii) develop WRVSLs based on the reliability theory. More specifically, the WRVSLs are set based on reliability: the probability of a speed being (i) likely complied by drivers, and (ii) adequate to avoid a rear-end collision. The study results reveal that merely 73 % of the drivers at the study site comply with the existing posted speed limit under normal road-weather conditions i.e., no precipitation and dry pavements. The reliability of the current speed limit is revealed to be approximately-one under normal road-weather conditions; thus, the current speed limit is perceived credible under such road-weather conditions. Yet, reliability of the current speed limit is substantially reduced in the presence of slight snow, and ice warning pavement conditions. A set of reliability-based WRVSLs ranging from 80 to 110 km/h is proposed. Jurisdictions experiencing extreme road-weather conditions may adapt the proposed methodology to effectively manage speed, particularly in rural highways under adverse road-weather conditions to enhance the probability of speed limits being safe and complied by drivers and as a result reduce crash propensity.
A reliability-based weather-responsive variable speed limit system to improve the safety of rural highways
2022-09-02
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Creating an intelligent variable speed limit system for rural highways
Kraftfahrwesen | 1999
|Creating an Intelligent Variable Speed Limit System for Rural Highways
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999
|