Project 1.14: Exploring the Safety Impact of Rumble Strips on Prevention of Lane Departure Crashes in Maine

Exploring the Safety Impact of Rumble Strips on Prevention of
Lane Departure Crashes in Maine

Project 1.14

Project Summary

Enhancing safety of roadway segments is a critical step towards maintaining durable transportation infrastructures. Due to significant costs associated with construction of roadway segments, redesigning or rebuilding a roadway segment is not always a viable solution for safety improvement. Low-cost safety countermeasures are effective tools to enhance safety while diminishing reconstruction costs. Among all traffic collisions, the lane departure crashes continue to be the leading type of serious traffic accidents in Maine, comprising 70% of state-wide traffic fatalities. Installations of shoulder and centerline rumble strips have been a primary countermeasure to prevent lane departure crashes in Maine. With an increase in installations of rumble strips, there is a clear DOT need to understand the impact of rumble strips in reducing lane departure crashes in Maine in different conditions. This project will employ Empirical Bayes (EB) observational before-after study (and/or other statistical tools when appropriate) to explore the effectiveness of rumble strips in Maine. The evaluation will investigate the impact of both centerline and shoulder rumble strips on reducing the frequency and severity (Fatal, Injury and PDO) of lane departure crashes (e.g.: run-off the road and head-on collisions) for select roadways (e.g.: rural two lane roads) under different conditions. This analysis will also use benefit-cost analysis to explore the economic benefits of using rumble strips.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Ali Shirazi

Co-PIs

Dr. Per Garder

Institution:

University of Maine

Project Status

Completed

Project Cost

$117,314

Start Date

01/01/2022

Project Type

Based-funded

End Date

12/31/2023

Agency ID

69A3551847101

Sponsors:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, University Transportation Centers Program, Department of Transportation, MaineDOT.

Implementation of Research Outcomes:

This project is in its initial research phase. Implementation of research outcomes will be reported upon completion of the research outputs

Impacts and Benefits of Implementation:

This project is in its research phase. Impacts and benefits of the research will be reported after the implementation phase.

Printable Project Information Sheet

April 2022 Quarterly Progress Report

June 2022 Quarterly Progress Report

September 2022 Quarterly Progress Report

Project 1.14 Final Report