Agencies utilize intelligent warning systems to help mitigate crash fatalities in rural areas.
Nationwide, United States
Ahead of the Curve
Summary Information
Statistical analysis from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) finds that nearly 60 percent of all fatal crashes occur on rural roads. With most of these crashes resulting from roadway departures, the primary goal is to help keep vehicles in their lane. This article in Thinking Highways discusses how to mitigate the occurrence of road departures by taking a systematic approach to deploying technological strategies in a cost effective manner.
Findings:
- In an evaluation of the safety effectiveness of various horizontal curve delineation treatments in Italy, sequential flashing beacons on chevrons and curve warning signs were shown to decrease the number of reported crashes by 77 percent when compared to the expected number derived from an Empirical Bayes analysis.
- DCWS are used in areas with high accident rates to reduce the overall number and severity of crashes.