NCHRP Report 230, "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Appurtenances", published in March 1981, contains recommended procedures for evaluating the safety performance of highway features. Since its publication, NCHRP Report 230 (IRRD 268840) has served as the generally accepted guide for developing and evaluating highway hardware, not only in the USA but in other countries as well. However, the mix and characteristics of highway vehicles have changed substantially since 1981; safety features not considered in that report have come into use, and research efforts usingfull-scale crash tests, bogie and pendulum tests, computer simulations, and traffic accident analyses have resulted in improved understanding of vehicle interactions with highway features, including roadside terrain. In addition, performance levels other than those included in NCHRP Report 230 are being considered for use. On the basis of these changes, an update of NCHRP Report 230 is needed at this time to ensure continued improvement in the level of safety provided users of the highway system. Therefore, the object of the update is promulgate recommended procedures for the safety performance evaluation of both temporary and permanent highway features in such a manner as to reflect advances in technology and to accommodate current and anticipated roadway and vehicle characteristics. This presentation will discuss the status of the update, including the major changes being proposed. It is noted that the second draft of the update was released for review July, 1991. Plans call for a national and international reveiw of this draft by expert in roadside safety design. It is anticipated that the final report will be completed in early 1992. (A) This is the complete article. NCHRP 230 is partly updated by Transportation Research Circular 374 (IRRD 847033).
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