Findings from Ryerson University in the Area of Risk Management Reported (Another look at the safety effects of horizontal curvature on rural…

Findings from Ryerson University in the Area of Risk Management Reported (Another look at the safety effects of horizontal curvature on rural two-lane highways)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- New research on Risk Management is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Toronto, Canada, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "Crash Modification Factors (CMFs) are used to represent the effects on crashes of changes to highway design elements and are usually obtained from observational studies based on reported crashes. The design element of interest for this paper is horizontal curvature on rural 2-lane highways."

Financial support for this research came from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Ryerson University, "The data for this study came from the Washington State database in the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS). Crash prediction models are developed for curve sections on rural 2-lane highway and the tangent sections up- and down-stream of the curve sections. Different negative binomial models were developed for segments on level grades (< 3%), moderate grades (3-6%), and steep grades (> 6%) to account for the confounding effects of gradient. The relationships between crashes at different traffic volumes and deflection angles are explored to illustrate how to get estimates of CMFs for increases in the minimum radius, considering the effect of increased tangent length for sharper curves, an effect that is overlooked in the Highway Safety Manual CMF, in addition to the effect of gradient."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "The results of that exploration indicated that even at different design speeds and deflection angles, the CMF estimates for incremental increases in radius lie within the same range, and that the crash reduction rate (CRR) is higher at segments on higher grades compared to the ones on lower grades."

For more information on this research see: Another look at the safety effects of horizontal curvature on rural two-lane highways. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2017;106():149-159. Accident Analysis and Prevention can be contacted at: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Accident Analysis and Prevention - www.journals.elsevier.com/accident-analysis-and-prevention/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting T. Saleem, Ryerson Univ, Dept. of Civil Engn, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2017.04.001. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North and Central America, Risk Management, Ryerson University.

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2017, NewsRx LLC