High-Accident Spot-Improvement Program

As a result of an extensive before and after accident study, the high-accident location program, was found to have significantly decreased the number of motor vehicle accidents. Favorable benefit-cost ratios indicated that the cost of the Program has represented a good investment in comparison with the resultant savings in accident cost. Detailed analysis of available accident data showed that, for studies of the type reported, the 12-month period immediately prior to the date of identification of a high-accident location is not a reliable period for representing the actual long-term before accident experience. A much more acceptable period is the 12 months beginning 2 yr in advance of the date of identification. Further analysis also showed that a route segment of 0.1 mile (0.16km) is not of sufficient length for properly identifying high-accident locations for accumulating accident statistics to support a before and after study. Since only slightly more than 5% of the identified high-accident locations were judged to warrant improvement, the procedure used in Kentucky for identifying high-accident locations, i.e., those having three or more accidents at a 0.1-mile (0.16-km) location during a 12-month period, was found to be inefficient.