Effectiveness of Larger Traffic Signs, High-Performance Sheeting and Clearview Font on Accident Reduction

During the last several decades, the number of drivers and rural/urban traffic has significantly increased, along with the number of traffic signs. Traffic signs provide a plethora of necessary information -- directions, guidance, warnings, regulations, and recreation. With today's congestion and higher speed, it's very important to recognize specific situations where larger, brighter, and easier to read signs should be installed to increase safety of the drivers. It is equally important to counties with limited funds to find locations and/or scenarios where bigger, more costly signs are not cost effective. Many signing studies of problem locations recommend bigger, brighter, easier to read signs. However, there is little evidence that sign size, or readability directly relate to accident causation. Counties want evidence that larger, more costly signs are cost effective in regard to safety. A study of the other attributes can be made within this same project at little incremental cost with results made beneficial to both the state and counties. There is a need for documentation of the accident reduction benefits of these sign attributes for a range of approach scenarios and accident types. The main objective of this research will be to determine typical locations and/or scenarios where bigger signs are effective in reducing accidents on rural/urban roads and where they are not effective, thus saving money for use at more critical locations. Within this study, a secondary objective will be to also study the safety benefits of brighter, easier to read signs.

• Record URL:
  http://transport.ksu.edu/research/KSUTC-08-6.pdf

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $49659.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RE-040-05; HPD-R043

  KSUTC-08-6

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Kansas Department of Transportation

  Eisenhower State Office Building
  700 SW Harrison Street
  Topeka, KS  United States  66603-3754
• Project Managers:

  Stokes, Robert

• Performing Organizations:

  Kansas State University's Center for Transportation Research

  2118 Friedler Hall
  Manhattan, KS  United States  66506-5000
• Principal Investigators:

  Rys, Margaret

• Start Date: 20070228
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20110630
• Source Data: RiP Project 20990

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Overhead traffic signs; Research projects; Sign sheeting; Traffic control devices; Traffic signs; Visibility
• Uncontrolled Terms: Road and highway directions
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01480047
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Kansas State University's Center for Transportation Research
• Contract Numbers: RE-040-05; HPD-R043, KSUTC-08-6
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Apr 27 2013 1:02AM