Highlights Geometric features of over 110 miles median traffic barriers on interstate roads were collected conducting a field survey. The performance of median traffic barriers on the severity of crashes on interstate roads was identified. Traffic barrier height, side-slope, and post-spacing were found to be statistically significant on the severity of crashes. Concrete barriers with a height shorter than 32 in were more likely to result in higher crash severity. Crashes involving median cable barriers with a minimum height of 30 in. tended to be the least severe in comparison to other types. Crashes involving median W-beam barriers with a post-spacing of 6.1–6.3 ft were least likely to result in fatalities and injuries.
Abstract Introduction Despite the numerous safety studies done on traffic barriers’ performance assessment, the effect of variables such as traffic barrier’s height has not been identified considering a comprehensive actual crash data analysis. This study seeks to identify the impact of geometric variables (i.e., height, post-spacing, sideslope ratio, and lateral offset) on median traffic barriers’ performance in crashes on interstate roads. Method Geometric dimensions of over 110 miles median traffic barriers on interstate Wyoming roads were inventoried in a field survey between 2016 and 2018. Then, the traffic barrier data collected was combined with historical crash records, traffic volume data, road geometric characteristics, and weather condition data to provide a comprehensive dataset for the analysis. Finally, an ordered logit model with random-parameters was developed for the severity of traffic barrier crashes. Based on the results, traffic barrier’s height was found to impact crash severity. Results Crashes involving cable barriers with a height between 30″ and 42″ were less severe than other traffic barrier types, while concrete barriers with a height shorter than 32″ were more likely involved with severe injury crashes. As another important finding, the post-spacing of 6.1–6.3 ft. was identified as the least severe range in W-beam barriers. Practical applications The results show that using flare barriers should reduce the number of crashes compared to parallel barriers.
Investigating the effect of geometric dimensions of median traffic barriers on crashes: Crash analysis of interstate roads in Wyoming using actual crash datasets
Journal of Safety Research ; 71 ; 163-171
2019-10-01
9 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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