Highway Safety Challenges on Low-Volume Rural Roads

Most highway-safety related research in the United States over the past 40 years has focused on major facilities (freeways, arterials, interchanges or intersections), or on specific treatments (traffic control devices, roadside barriers, rumble strips). Little effort has been devoted to a systematic assessment of potential safety improvements on low-volume rural roads, such as those administered by most counties, some states, and certain federal agencies. Although treatments that are safety effective on higher traffic volume facilities should also improve safety on low-volume roads, they may not be cost-effective. This paper analyzes the crash occurrence and potential safety treatments on low-volume rural roads. A safety survey was developed and distributed to a sample of those officials responsible for these roads. Using traffic volume data and traffic accidents for 1998-2001, potential field study sites were identified on rural state highways in New Mexico with average traffic volumes of less than 400 vehicles per day. Computer analyses of the accident data identified some common patterns among crashes on these roads. Field studies, somewhat less rigorous than road safety audits, were undertaken on nearly 300 miles of these highways for the purpose identifyin