Top Solutions Associated with Roadway Designs for Maximized Traffic Safety

Traffic safety is one of the key components of the transportation planning objectives. The roadway developers around the globe always keep looking for better ways to ensure everyone reaches their destination quite safe and sound. Know: Defensive Driving Practices to Ensure the Safety of Commercial Truck Drivers

Around the world, millions of people including drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bikers and bicyclists lose their lives and thousands of them get seriously injured or disabled every year. Because of that, traffic safety has become a prime concern when it comes to designing as well as maintenance of the roads.

Although over-speeding has been identified as one of the primary reasons behind most road crashes. There are also some other significant reasons that contribute to increasing these numbers. Over-speeding to a large extent can be monitored and controlled by installing solar powered speed signs but there is still a lot to be done.

The roadway engineers involved in the construction of roads, streets, highways, expressways, and carriageways have concluded numerous factors responsible for increasing the risk of traveling. Some of them include:

1. The type of travel
2. The amount of traffic
3. The types of vehicles
4. The condition of the road surface, and
5. The behavior of the driver. 

Improving Roadway Design

The roads, highways, and expressways across the country are redesigned and upgraded from time to time and a huge amount of money is spent on installing speed limiting devices alongside the roads such as variable message signs. Deeply concerned, the expert committee associated with the road transport ministry has provided some recommendations to the state and central governments to bring down the fatalities in road crashes. Some of the recommendations are as follow: 

• Install rumble strips 

The road engineers who are responsible for designing, redesigning and upgrading roads, highways and expressways need to install rumble strips apart from variable message signs both on center and shoulder lines. The mechanism of these strips is that they create a loud noise and alert the drivers as. When the tires hip the strip during the lane change moments.

Various studies conducted on the effectiveness and the efficiency of the rumble strips around the globe have indicated that more than 14% of fatal road crashes caused by vehicles coming from the opposite direction can be successfully prevented.

• Install median barriers

Installing median barriers is the most common practice among roadway engineers. This activity is carried out to separate the vehicles approaching from the opposite direction on divided highways. These barriers play a very effective role in preventing median road crashes.

In most of the developed countries where the driving sense of the people is appreciable. Authorities are encouraging the installation of more and more median barriers apart from solar-powered speed signs for the maximized safety of the roadways.

• Redesign roads with safety edges

At various times, the redesigning of roads can also be a very effective step in preventing road crashes. While redesigning, the road engineers must be very particular about constructing roads and expressways with a 35-degree slope along the outer edge. Some add-ons to the safety edges can decrease the potential of the wheel suddenly falling over the road’s edge. This situation often makes the drivers lose control over the vehicle resulting in a fatal rollover crash.

Various studies have revealed that the installations of the safety edge design have been very effective and efficient in preventing various fatal car crashes and collisions. When add-ons to the safety edges are coupled with variable message signs alongside the roads, the outcomes are always impressive and satisfactory. 

• Incorporate roundabouts

Roundabouts have also been found to be very effective in road crashes. Road engineers need to incorporate them not only while designing new roads and highways. But also carrying out different road repairing and improvement activities. It is because they can prevent fatal car collisions by upwards of around 85%.

When installed strategically, roundabouts carry off the need for spotlights while helping to have a better traffic flow, particularly at some accident-prone intersections. 

• Improve turning lanes

There is no dearth of intersections in both metro and mini-metro cities the world over where most intersections are overburdened with heavy traffic allowing people for both left and right turns. Designed and developed with a well-thought strategy, multiple turning lanes can be of immense help not only in improving the efficiency of the traffic but also in smoothing the flow. These improved lanes can reduce the risk of back-to-back crashes and collisions that are the most common sights at and near intersections.

Various studies have revealed that well-designed, improved turning lanes at stop-controlled intersections are effective in reducing accidents up to 55%. Therefore, proper attention must be paid to these lanes apart from installing solar powered speed signs for alerting the drivers of their speeds. 

• Reset traffic signals

The increasing rate of road crashes caused due to red-light jumping has reached a very alarming stage resulting in catastrophic injuries and fatalities. Experts are of the view that these increasing numbers can be reduced if traffic control devices in all the sensitive areas are reset while extending the yellow light duration. With the resetting or adjustment in the yellow light duration. It will remain lit for an extended time while preventing the people from jumping the red lights.   

• Build better walkways

Building better walkways or pathways equipped with a variable message sign can prevent mishaps concerning the pedestrians by upwards of around 88%. Various studies have revealed that building a 4-foot wide well-paved walkway running parallel to the street or road can prove to be very effective at maximizing pedestrian safety by providing them with a protective buffer between vehicles and them.

Concluding Remarks

Road traffic safety is one of the most crucial matters today. The governments along with road traffic authorities are striving hard to provide us all with safer roads, expressways, and highways. Around the world, the structures of roads are being changed, modified and upgraded with more and more installation of variable message signs and solar-powered speed signs. But nothing can prove better than our own consciousness. And carefulness about the mishaps occurring each minute on roads and highways.