Analysis of Passing Sight Distance

Highway and Railroad Engineering

CEHWRE30

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Overtaking Sight Distance

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Overtaking Sight Distance
• The minimum distance open to the vision of the driver of a vehicle
intending to overtake slow vehicle ahead with safety against the
traffic of opposite direction is known as the minimum overtaking
sight distance (OSD) or the safe passing sight distance available

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Overtaking Sight Distance
• Important factors on which the minimum overtaking sight distance
depends, are:

a. Speeds of i) overtaking vehicle, ii) overtaken vehicle, iii) the vehicle

coming from opposite direction, if any
b. Distance between the overtaking and overtaken vehicles, the
minimum spacing depends on the speeds
c. Skills and reaction time of the driver
d. Rate of acceleration of overtaking vehicle
e. Gradient of the road, if any
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Overtaking Sight Distance

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Overtaking Sight Distance
• Let A = vehicle travelling at design speed
B = slow-moving vehicle
C = vehicle coming from the opposite direction

• The overtaking maneuver may be split up into three operations,

dividing the sight distance into three parts, d1, d2, and d3

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Overtaking Sight Distance
i) d1 is the distance travelled by overtaking vehicle A during the
reaction time t seconds of the driver from position A1 to A2
ii) d2 is the distance travelled by the vehicle A from A2 to A3 during the
actual overtaking operation, in time T seconds
iii) d3 is the distance travelled by on-coming vehicle C from C1 to C2
during the overtaking operation of A, in T seconds

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Overtaking Sight Distance
i) It may be assumed that the vehicle A is forced to reduce its speed
to the speed vb of the slow vehicle B and moves behind it allowing
a space, s, till there is an opportunity for safe overtaking operation.
The distance travelled by the vehicle A during the reaction time is
d1 and is between the positions A1 and A2. This distance is equal
will be equal to vb x t, meter where ‘t’ is the reaction time of the
driver in seconds. This reaction time ‘t’ of the driver may be taken
as two seconds as an average value, as the aim of the driver is only
to find an opportunity to overtake. Thus,
𝑑1 = 𝑣𝑏 ∙ 𝑡 = 2𝑣𝑏 , meters

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Overtaking Sight Distance
ii) From position A2, the vehicle A starts accelerating, shifts to the
adjoining lane, overtakes the vehicle B, and shifts back to its original
lane ahead of B in position A3 in time T sec. the straight distance
between positions A2 and B1 may be taken as the minimum spacing ‘s’
of the two vehicles while moving with the speed vb m/sec. The
minimum spacing ‘s’ of the two vehicles while moving with the speed
vb m/sec. The minimum spacing between vehicles depends on their
speed and is given by empirical formula

𝑠 = 0.7 ∙ 𝑣𝑏 + 6, meters
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Overtaking Sight Distance
The minimum distance between B2 and A3 may also be assumed
equal to s as labeled in the diagram. If the time taken by vehicle A for
the overtaking operation from position A2 to A3 is T second, the
distance covered by the slow vehicle B travelling at a speed of vb is
equal to

𝑏 = 𝑣𝑏 ∙ 𝑇, meters

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Overtaking Sight Distance
Now the time depends on speed of overtaken vehicle B and the acceleration
of overtaking vehicle A, T

𝑎𝑇 2
𝑑2 = 𝑏 + 2𝑠 = 𝑣𝑏 𝑇 + ; 𝑏 = 𝑣𝑏 𝑇
2

𝑎𝑇 2
2𝑠 =
2
4𝑠
; thus, 𝑇= , sec
𝑎
Where 𝑠 = 0.7 ∙ 𝑣𝑏 + 6
Hence, 𝑑2 = 𝑣𝑏 𝑇 + 2𝑠
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Overtaking Sight Distance
iii) The distance travelled by vehicle C moving at design speed v, m/sec
during the overtaking operation of vehicle A; that is, during the time T is the
distance d2 between positions C1 and C2.

𝑑3 = 𝑣𝑇

Thus, the overtaking sight distance, OSD is

𝑃𝑆𝐷 = 𝑑1 + 𝑑2 + 𝑑3

𝑷𝑺𝑫 = 𝒗𝒃 𝒕 + 𝒗𝒃 𝑻 + 𝟐𝒔 + 𝒗𝑻
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Overtaking Sight Distance
• At overtaking sections, the minimum overtaking distance should be
(d1+d2+d3) when two-way traffic exists. On divided highways and on
roads with one-way traffic regulation, the overtaking distance need
be only (d1+d2) as no vehicle is expected from the opposite direction.
On divided highways with four or more lanes, IRC suggests that it is
not necessary to provide the usual OSD; however the sight distance
on any highway should be more than the SSD, which is the absolute
minimum sight distance.

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Example
• The speed of overtaking and overtaken vehicles are 70 kph and 40
kph, respectively on a two-way traffic road. If the acceleration of
overtaking vehicle is 0.99 m/s2,

a. Calculate safe overtaking sight distance

b. Mention the minimum length of overtaking zone, and
c. Draw a sketch of the overtaking zone and show the positions of the sign
posts.

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Solution
a) Passing Sight Distance (PSD) is given by

𝑃𝑆𝐷 = 𝑑1 + 𝑑2 + 𝑑3
𝑃𝑆𝐷 = 𝑣𝑏 𝑡 + 𝑣𝑏 𝑇 + 2𝑠 + 𝑣𝑇

1 𝑚
𝑣 = 70 𝑘𝑝ℎ ∙ = 19.444
3.6 𝑠𝑒𝑐
1 𝑚
𝑣𝑏 = 40 𝑘𝑝ℎ ∙ = 11.111
3.6 𝑠𝑒𝑐

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Solution
𝑚
𝑑1 = 𝑣𝑏 ∙ 𝑡 = 11.111 ∙ 2 𝑠𝑒𝑐 = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝒎
𝑠𝑒𝑐

𝑑2 = 𝑣𝑏 ∙ 𝑇 + 2𝑠 ; 𝑠 = 0.7𝑣𝑏 + 6
= 0.7 ∙ 11.111 + 6 = 13.777 𝑚

4𝑠 4∙13.777
;𝑇 = = = 7.461 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑎 0.99
So,

𝑚
𝑑2 = 11.111 ∙ 7.461 𝑠𝑒𝑐 + 2 ∙ 13.777 𝑚
𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑑2 = 𝟏𝟏𝟎. 𝟒𝟓𝟑 𝒎
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Solution
𝑚
𝑑3 = 𝑣𝑇 = 19.444 ∙ 7.461 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑑3 = 𝟏𝟒𝟓. 𝟎𝟕𝟏 𝒎

Thus,

𝑆𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑂𝑆𝐷 = 22.222 + 110.453 + 145.071

= 277.746 𝑚, 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝟐𝟖𝟎 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

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Solution
b)
“The minimum length of overtaking zone should be three times
the safe overtaking distance; i.e.,

3 𝑑1 + 𝑑2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 − 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑

OSD = ቊ
3 𝑑1 + 𝑑2 + 𝑑3 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑜 − 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑

while, the desired length of overtaking zone is five times the safe
overtaking distance”
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Solution
𝑀𝑖𝑛. 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑒 = 3(𝑂𝑆𝐷)
= 3 277.746 = 833.238 𝑚,
𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝟖𝟑𝟓 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑒 = 5(𝑂𝑆𝐷)

= 5 277.746 = 1388.73 𝑚,
𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝟏𝟑𝟗𝟎 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

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Solution
Road sign for
overtaking zone
c) Detail of the overtaking zone

835 – 1390 m

280 m 280 m 280 m 280 m

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