Citation

Lawson SD. Traffic Eng. Control 1988; 29(4): 202-209.

Affiliation

Univ of Birmingham, Birmingham, Engl

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Hemming Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Previous studies of collisions with roadside objects have shown that these impacts account for about one-tenth of all injury-producing accidents each year in Great Britain. Much more research and practical work has been done on these collisions in the United States of America (U. S. ) than in the United Kingdom (U. K. ). In the U. K. it has been an area of low priority for research and remedial action. Collection and presentation of U. K. statistics needs improving if effective action is to be taken. There are only two basic approaches to roadside crash protection - removal or relocation of roadside objects or, where this is not practicable, the manufacture of frangible objects or their protection with a barrier or attenuator. Both of these approaches are examined in the light of U. S. experience and their relevance to the U. K. Crash attenuators should be considered if other preventive measures are impracticable. Some of the U. S. evaluations of these countermeasures are unsound and many unconvincing. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that selective installation of some types of attenuators will be cost-effective.