Publication Details

Comparative performance of barrier and end treatment types using the Longitudinal Barrier Special Study file

Type: conferencePapers

Author(s): Hunter, William W.; Stewart, J. Richard; Council, Forrest M.

Pages: 121-142

Publisher: Swedish national Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)

Url: https://trid.trb.org/View/409563

Publication Date: 1994

Address: Linkoping, Sweden

Abstract: For roadway/roadside design engineers and others interested in the performance of hardware, a persistent topic of interest has been the performance of various types of guardrails, median barriers, and end treatments, and the comparison of risk to the driver when striking a barrier length of need (LON) versus an end section. This topic was explored using the Longitudinal Barrier Special Study (LBSS) file developed in the 1980s for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National Accident Sampling System (NASS) activity. Data were generated by NASS investigators working through various zone centers in the U.S. For an eligible case, detail far beyond routine police crash investigation was obtained, with barrier descriptors including items like post spacing, presence of block out, end treatment type, angle of impact, yawing angle, and barrier performance.

Conference name: Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) and Traffic Safety on Two Continents, Proceedings of the Conference, Hague, Netherlands, Sept. 22-24, 1993.