The purpose of this systematic review is to assess whether installation of cable median barriers (CMBs) in some stretches of freeways in different states have been effective in preventing cross median crashes (CMCs) and related casualties in the United States. As the CMBs get increasingly installed on highways, they have been taunted as the preferred median barriers due to their combination of lower costs of installation compared to other types of barriers such as concrete barriers and their effectiveness in their intended use, i.e., providing median crossover protection by preventing cross median crashes. Several state departments of transportation (DOTs) have been installing CMBs for more than 15 years and some states have evaluated the performance of median cable barriers installed on their freeways. This study evaluated safety evaluation studies from 12 states that have performed the effectiveness studies of CMBs. Ten of these studies were before-after studies and nine of them showed effectiveness of CMBs. Reductions in outcomes across studies ranged from 24% to 93% for fatal and serious injury cross-median crashes and 50% to 91% for total cross-median crashes. However, increasing in outcomes ranged from 18% to 163% for possible injury and property damage only crashes of vehicles that primarily collided with the barriers but did not cross-over to the opposing lanes. Cable barriers have proved to be a valuable safety engineering tool effective in reducing fatalities and serious injuries due to crossover crashes on the states’ most heavily traveled roads.


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    Title :

    Effectiveness of Cable Median Barriers in Preventing Cross Median Crashes and Related Casualties in the United States - A Systematic Review


    Additional title:

    Sustain. Civil Infrastruct.



    Conference:

    International Road Federation World Meeting & Exhibition ; 2021 ; Dubai, United Arab Emirates November 07, 2021 - November 10, 2021



    Publication date :

    2022-04-21


    Size :

    10 pages





    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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