PRINCIPLES OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 5

HIGHWAY SAFETY AND

ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

❑ HIGHWAY SAFETY: improvement

program
2 characteristics of roadway
safety

NOMINAL SAFETY is based on design standards

SUBSTANTIVE SAFETY is based on roadway safety

performance
Nominal safety

Nominal safety refers to whether or not a design (or

design element) meets minimum design criteria
based on national or state standards and guidance
documents such as AASHTO.

If a roadway meets minimum design criteria, it can be

characterized as nominally safe.
substantive safety
Conversely, substantive safety refers to the Actual or expected
safety on a roadway. Substantive safety can be quantified in terms
of:
❑ Crash Frequency
❑ Crash Rate
❑ Crash Type
❑ Crash Severity

If the roadway in question has a significantly higher incidence or

severity of crashes than other roads of its kind, it may have a
substantive safety problem.
Intersection crash countermeasures

❑ SIGNALIZATION COUNTERMEASURES

❑ GEOMETRIC COUNTERMEASURES

❑ SIGNS/MARKINGS/OPERATIONAL COUNTERMEASURES
ROADWAY DEPARTURE crash countermeasures
❑ BARRIER COUNTERMEASURES
❑ BRIDGE COUNTERMEASURES
❑ GEOMETRIC COUNTERMEASURES
❑ MEDIAN COUNTERMEASURES
❑ ROADSIDE COUNTERMEASURES
❑ SIGNS/MARKINGS/OPERATIONAL
COUNTERMEASURES
PEDESTRIAN crash countermeasures

❑ SIGNALIZED COUNTERMEASURES

❑ GEOMETRIC COUNTERMEASURES

❑ SIGNS/MARKINGS/OPERATIONAL
COUNTERMEASURES
CRITICAL CRASH RATE PER MILLION VEHICLE
MILES/PER MILLION ENTERING VEHICLES
Critical Crash Rate – A critical crash rate or threshold value is calculated for each site
and compared to the observed crash rate. Sites with an observed crash rate greater
than their critical crash rate are flagged for further investigation.

0.5 𝐴𝑉𝑅
𝐶𝑅 = 𝐴𝑉𝑅 + + 𝑇𝐹
𝑇𝐵 𝑇𝐵
Where:

CR = Critical Crash ratio per million entering vehicles

AVR = Average Crash Rate for facility type
= [(sum of fatal & Injury)*N +Property Damage]
TF = Test Factor, standard deviation at a given confidence level
TB = Traffic base per 100 million entering vehicles
Traffic base per 100 million vehicle/mile

𝑁 𝐴𝐴𝐷𝑇 𝐿 365
𝑇𝐵 =
100,000,000

Where:

TB = Traffic Base (vehicle/mile)

AADT = Average Annual Daily Traffic
N = number of years
L = length of Highway by miles
Crashes prevented before and after a
countermeasure is implemented

𝐴(𝐶𝑅𝐹)(𝐴𝐷𝑇 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡)

𝐶𝑟𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 =
(𝐴𝐷𝑇 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡)

Where:

CRF = Crash Reduction Factor for a specified countermeasure

ADT = Average Daily Traffic
A = Average expected number of crashes if countermeasure is not implemented
and if the traffic volume is the same
OVERALL CRASH REDUCTION FACTOR FOR MULTIPLE
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE IMPROVEMENTS AT A SINGLE SITE

𝐶𝑅𝐹 = 𝐶𝑅𝐹1 + 1 − 𝐶𝑅𝐹1 𝐶𝑅𝐹2 + 1 − 𝐶𝑅𝐹1 1 − 𝐶𝑅𝐹2 𝐶𝑅𝐹3 + ⋯

Where:

CRF = Overall Crash Reduction Factor

𝐶𝑅𝐹1, 𝐶𝑅𝐹2 , 𝐶𝑅𝐹3 = Crash Reduction Factor for a specified countermeasure
Sample problem no. 1

Given :

Length of segment highway = 0.3 miles

AADT = 16 000 vehicles/day
Test factor = 1.96 or 95% confidence level
For a 4 year period: Average crash rate per million entering vehicles.
Property Damage = 250
Fatal & Injury = 120
Calculate the critical crash rate
Sample problem no. 2

Given :

ADT before improvement = 6624 (average over a 3-year period)

ADT after improvement = 9200
Crash Reduction Factor = 30%
Number of crashes occurring per year = 10, 12, 14 (over the 3-year
before improvement period)

Determine the expected reduction in the number of crashes occurring

after the implementation of the countermeasure.
Sample problem no. 3

At a single location along NLEX, three

countermeasures with crash reduction factor of
CRF1 = 38 %, CRF2 = 26% , CRF3 = 22% are proposed.
Determine the overall crash reduction factor.