One of the inevitable results of new highway designs, through no fault of the designs themselves, just the lack of ideal geometries, will be black spots, or dangerous potential accident areas. These typically are areas where drivers need to make decisions. When making a decision, the driver can be either right or wrong. Approximately thirty percent of fatal accidents will be single vehicle, non-pedestrian (SVNP) accidents where a car will run off the road and impact a rigid roadside object. These rigid roadside hazards include bridge abutments, bridge piers in the median, median barrier terminals, bridge rail ends, sign supports, railroad crossing signal arms, or the barrier ends located in the aptly named “gore areas" at exits, to name just a few. Not correcting a dangerous condition on the highway can prove to be a much more costly option than treating the site with a properly designed and tested crash protection. Utilizing proper crash management is proving on a daily basis around the world that it is a highly economic tool that must be used to improve roadway safety. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E213531.
Samenvatting