Performance of Safety Evaluation Methods
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 123, Issue 5
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to investigate the performance of safety evaluation methods and estimate the safety effectiveness of street bumps, closing of median openings, and divisional islands in an urban environment. Traffic accident data were obtained from the municipality of Irbid, Jordan, and its police records. In the analysis the performances of simple before-and-after and empirical Bayesian methods were compared with results obtained by comparison group methods. The results indicate that the simple before-and-after method overestimated the effectiveness of safety improvements and led to erroneous conclusions at specific locations, as well as at the aggregate level. The comparison group method and the empirical Bayesian method provided results comparable to each other. Based on the results of the comparison group and the Bayesian methods, the study indicates that street bumps and closing of median openings at intersections are effective in reducing total accidents. In contrast, implementation of divisional islands did not provide a significant reduction.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abbess, C. R., Jarrett, D. F., and Wright, C. C.(1981). “Accident at Blackspots: estimating the effectiveness of remedial treatment, with special reference to the regression-to-mean effect.”Traffic Engrg. and Control, London, U.K., 22(10), 535–542.
2.
Al-Masaeid, H. R., and Sinha, K. C.(1994). “Analysis of accident reduction potentials of pavement markings.”J. Transp. Engrg., ASCE, 120(5), 723–736.
3.
Al-Masaeid, H. R., Sinha, K. C., and Thomas, K. (1993). “Evaluation of safety impact of highway projects.”Transp. Res. Rec. 1401, Transp. Res. Board, Washington, D.C., 9–16.
4.
Baguley, C. (1981). “Speed comparison humps—further public road trials.”Lab. Rep. LR1017. Transport and Rd. Res. Lab., Crowthorne, U.K.
5.
Benekohal, R. F., and Hashmi, A. M.(1992). “Procedures for estimating accident reductions on two-lane highways.”J. Transp. Engrg., ASCE, 118(1), 111–128.
6.
Council, F. M., et al. (1980). Accident research manual. Rep. No. FHWA/RD-80/016. Federal Highway Admin., Washington, D.C.
7.
Creasey, T., and Agent, K. R. (1985). “Development of accident reduction factors.”Res. Rep. UKTRP-85-6, Kentucky Transp. Res. Program, Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
8.
Federal Highway Administration (FHwA). (1992). Safety effectiveness of highway design features; vol. IV, pedestrians and bicyclists, FHWA-RD-91-049, Mclean, Va.
9.
Jarvis, J. R., and Giummarra, G.(1992). “Humps for use on bus routes.”J. Rd. and Transport Res., 1(4), 32–46.
10.
Jeffery, H. (1961). Theory of probability, 3rd Ed., Oxford University Press, New York, N.Y.
11.
Hauer, E., and Persaud, B. N. (1983). “A common bias in before-and-after accident comparisons and its elimination.”Transp. Res. Record 905, Transp. Res. Board, Washington, D.C., 164–174.
12.
Homburger, H. S., and Kell, J. H. (1988). Fundamentals of traffic engineering, 12th Ed., Inst. of Transp. Studies, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif.
13.
McGuigan, D. R.(1985). “Accident migration—or a flight of fancy?”Traffic Engrg. and Control, London, U.K., 26(4), 229–233.
14.
Sumner, R., and Baguley, C. (1979). “Speed comparison humps in Kensington and Glasgow.”Lab. Rep. SR456, Transport and Rd. Res. Lab., Crowthorne, U.K.
15.
Stephens, B. W.(1986). “Road humps for the comparison of vehicular speed and traffic flow.”Public Roads, 50(3), 82–90.
16.
Wright, C. C., Abbess, C. R., and Jarrett, D. F.(1988). “Estimating the regression-to-mean effect associated with road accident black spot treatment: towards a more realistic approach.”Accident Anal. and Prevention, 20(3), 199–214.
17.
Zegeer, C. V., Reinfurt, D. W., Hunter, W. W., Hummer, J., Stewart, R., and Herf, L. (1988). “Accident effects of sideslope and other roadside features on two-lane roads.”Transp. Res. Record 1195, Transp. Res. Board, Washington, D.C., 33–43.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1997
Published in print: Sep 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.