Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuous Shoulder Rumble Strips in Reducing “Ran-Off-Roadway” Single-Vehicle Crashes
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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuous Shoulder Rumble Strips In Reducing “Ran-off-roadway” Single-Vehicle Crashes Final Report Submitted to Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) Research Division 1261 South Stewart Street Carson City, NV 89712 by Shashi Nambisan Vinay Vanapalli Mukund Dangeti Transportation Research Center University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Box 454007 Las Vegas, NV 89154-4007 Srinivas S Pulugurtha Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28223-001 February 2007 TECHNICAL REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Report No. RDT07-001 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipients Catalog No. 4. Title & Subtitle: 5. Report Date Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuous Shoulder Rumble Strips in Reducing “Ran-off-roadway” Single-vehicle Crashes March 2007 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Dr. Shashi Nambisan, Dr. Vinay Vanapalli, Dr. Mukund Dangeti, and Dr. Srinivas S. Pulugurtha 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. Transportation Research Center University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Box 454007 Las Vegas, NV 89154-4007 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28223-001 11. Contract or Grant No. P092-05-803 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type or Report and Period Covered Nevada Department of Transportation 1263 South Stewart Carson City, Nevada 89712 14. Sponsoring Agency Code NDOT 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract The research efforts presented in this report, prepared for the Nevada Department of Transportation, summarizes the evaluation of the effectiveness of continuous shoulder rumble strip treatment to reduce single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes in Nevada. The roadways studied included Interstate freeways, US routes, and state routes (SR) totaling 306 individual segments for a total of 1,303 centerline miles of roadways. Data for the period from 1995 to 2003 were used for the analyses. Key data considered in the analyses included the locations and dates of installation of continuous shoulder rumble strips, crash data, posted speed limits, and average daily traffic volumes. Crash records in Nevada for this period include over 33,000 ran-off-roadway single-vehicle crashes; of those 772 were fatal and 11,976 involved injuries. The crash data was determined for periods before and after the installation of the continuous shoulder rumble strips. Analyses of the data showed that overall the treatment has been effective in reducing the number of crashes and the corresponding crash rates. Linear regression models were developed to relate the crash rates during the “before” period to those during the “after” period. These models indicated that for any given crash rate, the predicted “after” crash rate was lower. The models suggested a reduction in the crash rates with higher values of average daily traffic, wider shoulders, and higher speeds. Roadways with posted speed limits greater than 65 miles/hour (105 kilometers/hour) showed significant improvements after the installation of rumble strips based on crash rates and crash density. An analysis, based on Ezra Hauer’s method for evaluation of safety, indicated that the installation of continuous shoulder rumble strips resulted in a significant reduction in the expected number of crashes on a vast majority of the roadways studied. Regression models developed indicated that the installations of rumble strips typically resulted in a reduction in the crash frequency, rate, or density. A comparison of the mean crash rates for roadways treated with rumble strips using Cox’s method of comparing Poisson means further validated the finding that treatments were effective in reducing the crash rates on all roadways with the exception of one. In summary, the installation of continuous shoulder rumble strips on roadways in Nevada has resulted in improved safety for single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes. The outcomes of this research will assist transportation safety managers in Nevada and nationwide to better understand the effectiveness of continuous shoulder rumble strips in reducing ran-off-roadway single-vehicle crashes and identifying opportunities for applications of these rumble strips. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Continuous shoulder rumble stips, Crash frequency, Crash rate, Crash density, Unrestricted. This document is available through the National Ran-off-roadway crashes, Before-after analyses Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 21161 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 19. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. Of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 146 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuous Shoulder Rumble i Strips In Reducing “Ran-off-roadway” Single-Vehicle Crashes February 2007 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes are of significant concern in Nevada. The research efforts presented in this report, prepared for the Nevada Department of Transportation, summarizes the evaluation of the effectiveness of continuous shoulder rumble strip treatment to reduce such crashes in Nevada. The efforts evaluated crash records involving single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes in Nevada on which rumble strips had been installed and were used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. The roadways studied included Interstate freeways, US routes, and state routes (SR) totaling 306 individual segments corresponding to a total of 1,303 centerline miles of roadways. Data for the period from 1995 to 2003 were used for the analyses. Key data considered in the analyses included the locations and dates of installation of continuous shoulder rumble strips on roadway segments, crash data, posted speed limits, and average daily traffic volumes. Crash records in Nevada for this period include over 33,000 ran-off-roadway single- vehicle crashes; of those 772 were fatal crashes and 11,976 were injury crashes. The number and rates of single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes were determined for periods before and after the installation of the continuous shoulder rumble strips. Analyses of the data showed that overall the treatment has been effective in reducing single- vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes and the corresponding crash rates. Sixty-eight percent of the segments showed improvements based on crash rates and these segments accounted for 83 percent of the centerline miles of the roadways. Likewise 11 percent of the segments (4 percent of centerline miles) showed no change in crash rates, and 21 percent of the segments (14 percent of the centerline miles) showed worse crash rates. The results based on crash densities were similar: 66 percent of the segments (81 percent of centerline miles) showed improvement, 12 percent of the segments (4 percent of centerline miles) showed no change and 23 percent of the segments (15 percent of centerline miles) experienced higher rates after the installation of the rumble strips. Statistical analyses of the data affirm these findings. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuous Shoulder Rumble ii Strips In Reducing “Ran-off-roadway” Single-Vehicle Crashes February 2007 Linear regression models were developed to relate the crash rates during the “before” period to those during the “after” period. These models indicated that for any given crash rate, the predicted “after” crash rate was lower. Though not clearly established, the models developed suggest a reduction in the crash rates with higher values of average daily traffic, wider shoulders, and higher speeds. Roadways with posted speed limits greater than 65 miles/hour (105 kilometers/hour) showed significant improvements after the installation of rumble strips based on crash rates and crash density. As the posted speed limit increases, the crash rates decrease. In general, crash rates decline as the shoulder widths increase; however, no significant relationships between shoulder widths or average daily traffic on single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crashes were discernible from the analyses. An analysis, based on Ezra Hauer’s method for evaluation of safety, indicated that the installation of continuous shoulder rumble strips resulted in a significant reduction in the expected number of crashes on a vast majority of the roadways studied. Regression models developed indicated that the installations of rumble strips typically resulted in a reduction in the crash frequency, rate, or density on a segment. A comparison of the mean crash rates for roadways treated with rumble strips using Cox’s method of comparing Poisson means further validated the finding that treatments were effective in reducing the crash rates on all roadways with the exception of one, highway SR-160. In summary, the installation of continuous shoulder rumble strips on roadways in Nevada has resulted in improved safety in terms of single-vehicle ran-off-roadway crash frequencies, rates, and densities. The outcomes of this research will assist transportation safety managers in Nevada and nationwide to better understand the effectiveness of continuous shoulder rumble strips in reducing ran-off-roadway single-vehicle crashes and identifying opportunities for applications of these rumble strips. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuous Shoulder Rumble iii Strips In Reducing “Ran-off-roadway” Single-Vehicle Crashes February 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS TECHNICAL PAGE .............................................................................................................................i