An examination of the traffic fatality distribution for 1984 by most harmful event shows the serious consequences of run-off-the-road accidents. On all roadways, over 36% of the fatalities were caused by striking roadside objects such as trees, poles, and embankments. Similarly, a roadside object was judged to be the most harmful event in 47% of the fatalities on the interstate system. Furthermore, an examination of single-vehicle accident fatalities on the interstate system reveals that nearly one-third of the fatalities were caused by a vehicle striking a longitudinal barrier and another one-third were caused by vehicle rollover. In fiscal year 1985, a total of $78 million was spent in the Federal Highway Administration's Federally Coordinated Program (FCP), including approximately $15 million spenton safety-related activities. These safety funds are distributed among eight different FCP projects. Project 1T "roadside safety hardware" accounted for about one-third of these safety funds. The accomplishments of project 1T research and development efforts are discussed in this article, followed by a discussion of the problems involved in developing warranting criteria for cost-effective treatments for run-off-the-road accidents, and in the implementing, installing, and maintaining of roadside hardware.
Samenvatting