Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads
Craig Lyon, Bhagwant Persaud, Eric Todd Donnell
Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
This study estimated crash modification factors (CMFs) for the SafetyEdge paving technique that is applied for the treatment of pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural highways. An empirical Bayes observational before-after evaluation based on installation data in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida found that the SafetyEdge treatment was associated with statistically significant reductions in fatal and injury (FI), run-off-the-road (ROR), opposite-direction (head-on and sideswipe), and drop-off-related crashes. The ROR CMF was also statistically significant for both horizontal curved and tangent sections. A disaggregate analysis examined the variation of the CMF for ROR with factors such as the travel lane width, traffic volume, presence of a horizontal curve, posted speed limit, and the pre-treatment ROR crash frequency. The results of that analysis indicated, for example, that the SafetyEdge paving technique appears to have a greater ROR safety benefit on two-lane rural roadway segments with average annual daily traffic volumes greater than 3,000 vehicles per day, relative to roadway segments with lower traffic volumes. A crash modification function (CMFunction) was calibrated with expected pre-treatment ROR crashes as the independent variable to simultaneously capture the relationship of the CMF for ROR crashes to multiple factors. An economic analysis found that the treatment is highly cost-effective.
Transportation Research Record
Rural roads
Lyon, C., Persaud, B., & Donnell, E. T. (2018). Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads. Transportation Research Record, 2672(30), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118758054
Lyon, Craig ; Persaud, Bhagwant ; Donnell, Eric Todd. / Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads. In: Transportation Research Record. 2018 ; Vol. 2672, No. 30. pp. 1-8.
@article{c80c4b9736a9411bb1d7aff2f07f6133,
title = "Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads",
abstract = "This study estimated crash modification factors (CMFs) for the SafetyEdge paving technique that is applied for the treatment of pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural highways. An empirical Bayes observational before-after evaluation based on installation data in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida found that the SafetyEdge treatment was associated with statistically significant reductions in fatal and injury (FI), run-off-the-road (ROR), opposite-direction (head-on and sideswipe), and drop-off-related crashes. The ROR CMF was also statistically significant for both horizontal curved and tangent sections. A disaggregate analysis examined the variation of the CMF for ROR with factors such as the travel lane width, traffic volume, presence of a horizontal curve, posted speed limit, and the pre-treatment ROR crash frequency. The results of that analysis indicated, for example, that the SafetyEdge paving technique appears to have a greater ROR safety benefit on two-lane rural roadway segments with average annual daily traffic volumes greater than 3,000 vehicles per day, relative to roadway segments with lower traffic volumes. A crash modification function (CMFunction) was calibrated with expected pre-treatment ROR crashes as the independent variable to simultaneously capture the relationship of the CMF for ROR crashes to multiple factors. An economic analysis found that the treatment is highly cost-effective.",
author = "Craig Lyon and Bhagwant Persaud and Donnell, {Eric Todd}",
journal = "Transportation Research Record",
publisher = "US National Research Council",
Lyon, C, Persaud, B & Donnell, ET 2018, 'Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads', Transportation Research Record, vol. 2672, no. 30, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118758054
Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads. / Lyon, Craig; Persaud, Bhagwant; Donnell, Eric Todd.
In: Transportation Research Record, Vol. 2672, No. 30, 01.03.2018, p. 1-8.
T1 - Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads
AU - Lyon, Craig
AU - Persaud, Bhagwant
AU - Donnell, Eric Todd
N2 - This study estimated crash modification factors (CMFs) for the SafetyEdge paving technique that is applied for the treatment of pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural highways. An empirical Bayes observational before-after evaluation based on installation data in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida found that the SafetyEdge treatment was associated with statistically significant reductions in fatal and injury (FI), run-off-the-road (ROR), opposite-direction (head-on and sideswipe), and drop-off-related crashes. The ROR CMF was also statistically significant for both horizontal curved and tangent sections. A disaggregate analysis examined the variation of the CMF for ROR with factors such as the travel lane width, traffic volume, presence of a horizontal curve, posted speed limit, and the pre-treatment ROR crash frequency. The results of that analysis indicated, for example, that the SafetyEdge paving technique appears to have a greater ROR safety benefit on two-lane rural roadway segments with average annual daily traffic volumes greater than 3,000 vehicles per day, relative to roadway segments with lower traffic volumes. A crash modification function (CMFunction) was calibrated with expected pre-treatment ROR crashes as the independent variable to simultaneously capture the relationship of the CMF for ROR crashes to multiple factors. An economic analysis found that the treatment is highly cost-effective.
AB - This study estimated crash modification factors (CMFs) for the SafetyEdge paving technique that is applied for the treatment of pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural highways. An empirical Bayes observational before-after evaluation based on installation data in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida found that the SafetyEdge treatment was associated with statistically significant reductions in fatal and injury (FI), run-off-the-road (ROR), opposite-direction (head-on and sideswipe), and drop-off-related crashes. The ROR CMF was also statistically significant for both horizontal curved and tangent sections. A disaggregate analysis examined the variation of the CMF for ROR with factors such as the travel lane width, traffic volume, presence of a horizontal curve, posted speed limit, and the pre-treatment ROR crash frequency. The results of that analysis indicated, for example, that the SafetyEdge paving technique appears to have a greater ROR safety benefit on two-lane rural roadway segments with average annual daily traffic volumes greater than 3,000 vehicles per day, relative to roadway segments with lower traffic volumes. A crash modification function (CMFunction) was calibrated with expected pre-treatment ROR crashes as the independent variable to simultaneously capture the relationship of the CMF for ROR crashes to multiple factors. An economic analysis found that the treatment is highly cost-effective.
JO - Transportation Research Record
JF - Transportation Research Record
Lyon C, Persaud B, Donnell ET. Safety evaluation of the safetyedge treatment for pavement edge drop-offs on two-lane rural roads. Transportation Research Record. 2018 Mar 1;2672(30):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118758054