Study Details

Study Title: Safety Impact of Edge Lines Wider Pavement Markings

Authors: Mohamed et al.

Publication Date:JAN, 2019

Abstract: The primary role of pavement markings is to provide a visual cue to drivers to assist them with vehicle position along a roadway and help them make a proper lane change decision. For this study, the objective was to determine the safety effectiveness of wider pavement markings with regard to traffic safety. Before and after studies using comparison group and Empirical Bayes methods were applied using crash data from thirty-eight independent two-lane rural highway locations in the state of Idaho to determine that if there was a relationship between the implementation of wider pavement markings and vehicle crashes. Safety performance functions (SPF) for runoff-the-road crashes (ROR) in Idaho for two-lane rural highways were also developed. This study concluded that there is a strong relationship between wider pavement marking width and a reduced number of ROR crashes particularly those involving fatal and serious injuries crashes. The research results showed that wider pavement marking implementation has the potential to reduce fatal and serious ROR crashes by 10.1 percent with an expected cost to benefit ratio of approximately 1:25. For this reason, the implementation of wider pavement marking widths by agencies along two-lane rural highways is encouraged to provide a long-term safety benefit for the motoring public.

Study Citation: Mohamed, M., M. Mohamed, A. Abdel-Rahim, and K. Chang. "Safety Impact of Edge Lines Wider Pavement Markings". Presented at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Paper No. 19-04234, Washington, D.C., (2019).


CMFs Associated With This Study

Category: Delineation

Countermeasure: Install wider edgelines (4 in to 6 in)

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.9673.311 StarAllAllNot specifiedRural
1.019-1.891 StarNighttimeAllNot specifiedRural
0.77422.581 StarAllK,ANot specifiedRural
0.76523.532 StarsNighttimeK,ANot specifiedRural
0.83172 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.86142 StarsAllK,ANot specifiedRural