Examination of Current U.S. and EU Crash Test Evaluation Criteria for Sign and Luminaire Support Structures and Work Zone Devices

The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) provides guidelines for crash testing roadside features and evaluation criteria to assess the test results. Using the philosophy of the “state of the possible,” the developers of MASH set lower occupant impact velocity (OIV) limits for sign and luminaire support structures and work zone devices than other roadside features because of the assumed relative ease in obtaining compliant test results for breakaway devices. The OIV limits are 4.9 m/s for all types of supports, whereas the limits for all other highway safety devices are 12.2 m/s. However, developing MASH-compliant devices in these families has proven difficult because of the conservative change in velocity requirements as well as occupant compartment deformation and penetration criteria. The current occupant risk criteria for these families of devices may preclude the use of energy-absorbing devices (e.g., poles, signs), which might ultimately be more conducive to favorable real-world crash outcomes in some applications. Energy-absorbing support structures are designed to decelerate a vehicle rather than allow it to break through with minimal speed reduction. Europe has developed a test standard to evaluate supports that uses the entire spectrum of support structures and occupant risk outcomes: EN12767, Passive safety of support structures for road equipment – Requirements and test methods. EN12767 accommodates the evaluation criteria in MASH but expands on possible outcomes based on the type of support structure, such as breakaway or energy-absorbing devices. Research is needed to collect available data on these types of devices and examine the test results with current U.S. and European Union (EU) standards to determine how concepts from the EU standards might be incorporated into MASH hardware evaluation. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project is to examine current U.S. and EU roadside safety hardware crash test criteria for sign and luminaire support structures and work zone devices and investigate how concepts from EU standards might be suitable for the United States.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5697
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Funding: $350,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 22-65

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Turner, Anne-Marie

• Start Date: 20250421
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Risk assessment; Sign supports; Support poles; Test procedures; Vehicle occupants; Work zones
• Identifier Terms: AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware; European Standards
• Geographic Terms: European Union
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01919258
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 22-65
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 21 2024 4:54PM