title: Potential crash reduction benefits of shoulder rumble strips in two-lane rural highways.
abstract: This paper reports the findings from a study aimed at examining the effectiveness of shoulder rumble strips in reducing run-off-the-road (ROR) crashes on two-lane rural highways using the empirical Bayes (EB) before-and-after analysis method. Specifically, the study analyzed the effects of traffic volume, roadway geometry and paved right shoulder width on the effectiveness of shoulder rumble strips. The results of this study demonstrate the safety benefits of shoulder rumble strips in reducing the ROR crashes on two-lane rural highways using the state of Idaho 2001-2009 crash data. This study revealed a 14% reduction in all ROR crashes after the installation of shoulder rumble strips on 178.63miles of two-lane rural highways in Idaho. The results indicate that shoulder rumble strips were most effective on roads with relatively moderate curvature and right paved shoulder width of 3 feet and more.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Dept of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, 301 E. Dean Keeton St. Stop C1761, ECJ Hall, Suite 6.9, Austin TX 78712-1172, USA. Electronic address: mubassira@utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Mubassira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: The University of Idaho, Dept of Civil Engineering, 115 Engineering Physics Building, Moscow, ID 83844-0901, USA. Electronic address: ahmed@uidaho.edu.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdel-Rahim
authors.affiliation: The University of Idaho, Dept of Statistical Science, 875 Perimeter Dr. MS 1104, Moscow, ID 83844-1104, USA. Electronic address: chrisw@uidaho.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D065187:Controlled Before-After Studies; D004779:Environment Design; D006801:Humans; D012424:Rural Population; D012449:Safety
keywords: EB before-and after analysis; Run-off-the-road crashes; Shoulder rumble strips; Two-lane rural highways