Bayesian Reconstruction of Median-Crossing Crashes and Potential Effectiveness of Cable Barriers

A cross-median crash occurs when a vehicle leaves its traveled way, completely crosses the median dividing the highway's directional lanes, and collides with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. As the advent of divided highways reduced head-on collisions, and the prevalence of forgiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transportation research record 2005-01, Vol.1908 (1908), p.141-147
Main Authors: Davis, Gary, Pei, Jianping
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:A cross-median crash occurs when a vehicle leaves its traveled way, completely crosses the median dividing the highway's directional lanes, and collides with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. As the advent of divided highways reduced head-on collisions, and the prevalence of forgiving roadsides reduced fixed-object collisions, fatalities caused by median crossings became relatively more prominent. This paper describes the reconstruction of several fatal median-crossing events; the events occurred although the medians were wider than the recommended 30-ft minimum. The impact severities generated by these events, however, were such that the median crossings probably would have been prevented by NCHRP Report 350 Test Level 3 barriers.
ISSN:0361-1981
DOI:10.3141/1908-17