U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| REPORT |
| This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
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| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-15-065 Date: September 2015 |
Publication Number:
FHWA-HRT-15-065
Date: September 2015 |
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The research documented in this report was conducted as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Evaluation of Low-Cost Safety Improvements Pooled Fund Study (ELCSI–PFS). FHWA established this pooled fund study in 2005 to conduct research on the effectiveness of the safety improvements identified by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 500 guides as part of implementation of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Strategic Highway Safety Plan. The ELCSI-PFS research provides a crash modification factor and benefit-cost economic analysis for each of the targeted safety strategies identified as priorities by the pooled fund member States.
The wet-reflective pavement markings evaluated in this study are intended to reduce the frequency of crashes by improving the level of retroreflectivity during wet-road conditions. Geometric, traffic, and crash data were obtained for freeway sections in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin; treated two-lane rural road locations in Minnesota; and treated multilane road sections in Wisconsin. For freeways, the combined results for all States indicate reductions in crashes for injury and wet-road crashes. For multilane roads, significant reductions were estimated for total crashes, injury crashes, run-off-road crashes, wet-road crashes, and nighttime crashes. The results suggest that the treatment, even with conservative assumptions about cost, service life, and the value of a statistical life, can be cost effective.
Monique R. Evans, P.E.
Director, Office of Safety
Research and Development
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
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Technical Report Documentation Page
| 1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-15-065 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3 Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
| 4. Title and Subtitle
Safety Evaluation of Wet-Reflective Pavement Markings |
5. Report Date September 2015 |
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| 6. Performing Organization Code | ||||
| 7. Author(s)
Craig Lyon, Bhagwant Persaud, and Kimberly Eccles |
8. Performing Organization Report No.
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9. Performing Organization Name and Address Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB)
Persaud Lyon, Inc. |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) |
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| 11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-13-D-00001 |
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| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
U.S. Department of Transportation |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Safety Evaluation |
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14. Sponsoring Agency Code
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| 15. Supplementary Notes
The Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety Research and Development Contract Task Order Manager was Roya Amjadi. The project team members were Craig Lyon, Dr. Bhagwant Persaud, and Kimberly Eccles. |
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| 16. Abstract
The Federal Highway Administration organized a pooled fund study of 38 States to evaluate low-cost safety strategies as part of its strategic highway safety effort. One of the strategies selected for evaluation was the application of wet-reflective pavement markings. This strategy involves upgrading existing markings from standard marking materials to wet-reflective markings applied as a paint, tape, or thermoplastic material. The purpose was to provide an improved level of retroreflectivity in wet-road conditions. Geometric, traffic, and crash data were obtained for treated freeway sections in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin; treated two-lane rural road locations in Minnesota; and treated multilane road sections in Wisconsin. To account for potential selection bias owing to regression-to-the-mean, an Empirical Bayes (EB) before–after analysis was conducted. The analysis also controlled for changes in traffic volumes over time and time trends in crash counts unrelated to the treatment. Intersection-related, snow/slush ice, and animal crashes were excluded from the analysis. For freeways, the combined results for all States indicated reductions in crashes that are statistically significant at the 95-percent confidence level for injury and wet-road crashes, with estimated crash modification factors (CMFs) of 0.881 and 0.861, respectively. For multilane roads, statistically significant reductions were estimated for total crashes (CMF = 0.825), injury crashes (CMF = 0.595), run-off-road crashes (CMF = 0.538), wet-road crashes (CMF = 0.751), and nighttime crashes (CMF = 0.696). For two-lane roads, the sample of crashes was too small to detect an effect with statistical significance for any of the crash types, but there were indications that the treatment had a safety benefit for wet-road crashes. Benefit–cost ratios estimated with conservative cost and service life assumptions were 1.45 for freeways and 5.44 for multilane roads. The results suggest that the treatment—even with conservative assumptions on cost, service life, and value of a statistical life—can be cost effective, especially for multilane roads. |
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| 17. Key Words
Wet-reflective pavement markings, Low-cost, Safety improvements, Safety evaluations, Empirical Bayesian |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available through the |
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19. Security Classification Unclassified |
20. Security Classification Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 49 |
22. Price | |
| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
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