Amelioration of Roadside Obstacle Crashes

The paper describes a study of the geometric features and roadside obstacles at 300 fixed object crash sites and compares the findings with similar data for 300 comparison sites. The crash samples were for all levels of severity and were randomly selected from police files in three Georgia counties. The research validated the findings of a 1974 study of fatal object crash sites and confirmed that roadside modification projects should be focused first on locations with curvature greater than six degrees and negative (downhill) gradient of 2% or steeper. The study further indicated that ameliorative efforts should be concentrated on arterial and collector roads, along the outside of curves, in the vicinity of intersections, along the right side of one-way facilities, and on those objects nearest the pavement edge.