With the introduction of the guidelines for the design of rural roads a further contribution to improving road safety should be made in Germany. Standardised, recognisable and distinguishable types of roads should clarify an appropriate driving style for the network function of a road. For this new road markings are provided on narrow roads with a sub-regional link function level. These new markings have a distance to the edge of the road and can be crossed at oncoming traffic. On a separation of directions with central road marking will be renounced. This produces a constricted area that will signal the driver increased attention to oncoming traffic. The aim of this study is to provide recommendations for cross-sectional design and functional way of marking for narrow rural roads. The investigative methodology includes studies on driving behaviour in a driving simulator and on test routes in North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, and additional studies on the hazard potenzial of cycling as well as before/after accident investigations. The layout of the selected test sections was modeled for a before-/after comparison of driving behavior in a driving simulator. Various marking variants were simulated on different wide roadways to determine a preferred variant for implementation at the test sections. For this driving behavior and acceptance (interview) of 50 test persons were evaluated. Result of the investigation in a driving simulator is a general preference of the test persons to lateral road marks at a distance of one meter to the edge of the road. This causes for unhindered-moving vehicles (without oncoming traffic) a higher distance from the edge of the road. In addition, interrupted road markings contribute to reduce speed. The largest reduction in speed was observed in interrupted road markings with a meter line and a meter gap. This preferred variant was now marked on real test sections with different widths of roadway. The lane and speed behavior was compared in a before-and-after comparison. The investigation of lane behavior showed, that unhindered-moving vehicles keep a greater distance edge of the road. Furthermore the investigation showed that drivers cross the markings in case of oncoming traffic. At existing cycling also no conflicts were detected. The drivers keep a safe distance from cyclists during overtaking. In contrast to other research projects, a reduction of speeds was not observed on the real test sections. In comparison with the state before approximately identical speeds were measured. That the speeds hardly change ultimately reflected in the accident occurrence again. In the context of before/after comparison of the accidents no significant changes of the accident were found that associated with the marking in context. In summary, these traversable road markings that have a distance from the edge of the road can be recommended, because unhindered-moving vehicles increase the distance to the edge of the road and are more attentive to oncoming traffic. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting