Study of high-tension cable barriers on Michigan roadways.

Details

• Creators:
  Savolainen, Peter T. ; Gates, Timothy J. ; Russo, Brendan J. ; Kay, Jonathan J.
• Corporate Creators:
  Wayne State University
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Median barriers
  • Cables
  • Highway safety
  • Accident data
  • Accident severity
  • Rollover accidents
  • Before and after studies
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RC-1612
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Michigan
• Corporate Publisher:
  Michigan. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Research Administration
• Abstract:
  Median-crossover crashes present the highest risk of fatality and severe injury among all collision types on ; freeways. These crashes are caused by ; a variety of factors, including drowsiness, driver distraction, impaired ; driving, and loss of control. The primary countermeasur ; e to reduce the opportunity for such crashes is the ; installation of median barriers. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) began installing high- ; tension cable median barriers in 2008 and has installed approximately 317 miles of high-tension cable median ; barrier on state freeways as of September 2013. Given the capital costs required for this installation program, ; as well as the anticipated annual maintenance and repairs costs, a comprehensive evaluation was conducted in ; order to ascertain the efficacy of cable barrier systems th ; at have been installed to date. Statistical analyses ; showed that fatal and incapacitating injury crashes were ; reduced by 33 percent after cable barrier installation. ; The analysis also showed the median-crossover crash rate ; was reduced by 86.8 percent and the rate of rollover ; crashes was reduced by 50.4 percent. In contrast, less ; severe crashes were found to increase by 155 percent ; after cable barrier installation. A detailed analysis of ; crashes involving a vehicle striking the cable barrier was ; also conducted. The results showed that cable barriers we ; re 96.9 percent effective in ; preventing penetration in ; the event of a cable barrier strike. Weather and road cond ; itions were also found to play a role in the frequency ; and severity of crashes, as well as cable barrier performance. An economic analysis was conducted to ; determine the cost-effectiveness of the cable barrier system, and guidelines were developed to assist in ; prioritizing candidate locations for cable barrier installation.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  2010-0298
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28338/dot_28338_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.51 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:b5dc342cb352ee7f0c80c8730f2a5dd38670cbfe0ca74d4c561378ac305f6385