Assessment of Safety Impacts of Highway Projects

by Jumares C. Sinha, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA,
Kang Hu, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Effectiveness of Highway Safety Improvements

Abstract:

In this paper the safety impact of highway improvement and maintenance activities is examined in terms of accident reduction potentials of these activities. There are three causes of accident: (a) the driver, (b) the vehicle, and (c) the highway design elements. The driver is undoubtedly the most important single cause. Many studies have attempted to analyze the human behavior related to accidents, yet no significant agreement has been reached. Accidents due to vehicle failures have been reported in only a small percentage of accidents. The highway design elements, which are the direct factors that can be controlled by highway and traffic engineers, have been one of the major areas of study in highway safety. Proper highway design and maintenance can provide a driver with good road condition and information so that he may detect and evaluate hazards and make a correct decision to avoid potential dangers.

Subject Headings: Highway and road design | Traffic accidents | Highway engineering | Highway and road conditions | Traffic safety | Driver behavior | Vehicles

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