In this report, the safety of different user groups on Dutch 80 and 100 km/h single carriageway roads is assessed. Frontal collisions form a significant danger on these types of roads, with oftentimes severe consequences. Different types of solutions to increase the safety of these road types are researched, and it is found that currently, physical separation through barriers in the median has the greatest potential, although in the future, smart in-car systems might be preferable. Physical barriers can be separated into three categories: exible, semi-rigid and rigid barriers. Based on the systems requirements that were formulated for the physical separation, on literature research, and interviews with the stakeholders, it was found that the semi-rigid Box Beam and W-beam barriers were evaluated best. The evaluation was done based on costs, containment level, accident severity index, installation width and several other factors, including a criteria specific to the safety of motorcyclists. As both the Box Beam and W-beam barrier still had several shortcomings within the set criteria, optimising the height, reduced post spacing and addition of a Motorcyclist Protection System are proposed, that might make these solutions fully fit the system requirements. However, further research is necessary to determine the exact effectiveness of these improvements, as well as to determine how exactly a barrier would inuence the traffic on the roads in question, in terms of congestion due to limitations of overtaking as well as the accessibility of sites for emergency vehicles. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting