Reducing work zone crashes by using vehicle’s flashers as a warning sign : final report

Details

• Creators:
  Bai, Yong ; Li, Yingfeng
• Corporate Creators:
  Kansas. Dept. of Transportation
• Corporate Contributors:
  University of Kansas. Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Rural highways
  • Traffic speed
  • Work zone traffic control
  • Work zone safety
  • Warning signs
  • Two lane highways
  • Road work zones
  • Motor vehicles
• Publication/ Report Number:
  K-TRAN: KU-07-3
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Kansas
• Edition:
  Final report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Kansas. Dept. of Transportation
• Abstract:
  Rural two-lane highways constitute a large percentage of the highway system in Kansas. Preserving, expending, ; and enhancing these highways require the set-up of a large number of one-lane, two-way work zones where traffic ; safety has been a severe concern. Aimed at reducing the work zone crashes attributable to inattentive driving, ; the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) initiated a research project to evaluate the effectiveness of ; a traffic warning sign that is assembled by using the emergency warning flashers of the vehicles in one-lane, ; two-way work zones. This warning sign was named as the Emergency Flasher Traffic Control Device (EFTCD). ; It works in the following fashion. When a vehicle entering a one-lane, two-way work zone where stopping is ; required for waiting to pass the work zone, the driver is required to turn on its emergency warning flashers to ; warn the following vehicles of the work zone stopping condition. The EFTCD is flexible and cost-effective and ; may particularly benefit those work zones that are frequently moved due to the construction progress. ; To accurately evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed EFTCD, researchers conducted experiments in three ; one-lane, two-way work zones in Kansas including two with a 55-mph speed limit and one with a 65-mph speed ; limit. During experimental period, researchers collected vehicle speed data with and without the EFTCD and ; surveyed drivers for their interpretation of this warning sign and recommendation on its potential implementation. ; Analyses results showed that the EFTCD effectively reduced the mean speeds in work zones as well as the ; proportions of notably high speeds. In addition, survey results indicated that the EFTCD successfully captured ; the attention of most drivers when they approached the work zones. A majority of drivers recommended the ; implementation of this warning sign in the work zones. Therefore, researchers concluded that the EFTCD was ; effective in one-lane, two-way work zones. Recommendations on future research were also presented based ; on the results of this study. The outcomes of this research project benefit not only Kansas, but also other States ; where rural two-lane highways constitute a high percentage of their highway systems.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  C1609
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/16643/dot_16643_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.45 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:36bd02cc27a3bfcf410c9f346b798e10e9c27f9a821f49109f26acc91b97407c