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Back to Intersection Safety Strategies Brochure
NCHRP Report 500 / Volume 5: A Guide for Addressing Unsignalized Intersection Collisions
Unsignalized intersections with patterns of rear-end, right-angle, or turning crashes related to lack of driver awareness of the presence of the intersection.
Photos by: FHWA
Providing pavement markings with supplementary messages (such as "STOP AHEAD") can help alert drivers and thus enhance the ability of approaching drivers to be more aware of the presence of the intersection. These markings should follow the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Select a combination of marking techniques appropriate to conditions on particular unsignalized intersection approaches.
Another key is the ability and commitment of the highway agency to maintain the markings adequately.
Potential difficulties may be encountered in the winter, when these markings may not be as visible to the driver. The pavement markings may also have a lower coefficient of friction compared to the rest of the approach, especially during wet conditions.
This strategy does not require a long development process and can typically be implemented in 3 months or less.
Costs to implement this strategy are nominal. An agency's maintenance costs may increase.
TRIED: Limited studies have suggested that installing supplementary pavement messages may decrease overall crashes by 6% and right-angle crashes at urban locations by 30%.
This strategy can be used in conjunction with most other strategies for improving safety at unsignalized intersections.
Supplementary pavement markings should follow the MUTCD, which drivers should understand with no need for special public education campaigns.
For more details on this and other countermeasures: http://safety.transportation.org
For more information contact:
FHWA Office of Safety Design
E71, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
(202) 366-9064
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov
FHWA Resource Center – Safety and Design Team
19900 Governor's Drive, Suite 301
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
(708) 283-3545
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter
