Site-Specific Data Will Improve Safety Decisions for Michigan Rural Roads: Research Spotlight

2018PDFTech ReportRural highwaysAccident dataTraffic accidentsCollisionsHighway safetyTraffic safetyAccident prone locationsAccident locationsFatalitiesCrash testingSafety and human factorsRural roadsAccident prone areasMichiganUnited StatesMichigan. Dept. of Transportation. Research AdministrationGates, TimothyMichigan. Dept. of Transportation. Research AdministrationCTC & Associates LLCMichigan State University. Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUS Transportation CollectionNationwide, the fatal crash rate on rural roads is higher than on urban roads \u2013 2.6 times higher in 2015. Rural road safety continues to be a top MDOT concern, but national models developed for safety assessment do not provide sufficiently accurate results when applied to Michigan\u2019s rural roads. Researchers developed new, more accurate models for estimating safety using data from a broad range of rural trunklines and county roadways across Michigan. Using these models will allow MDOT and local agencies to make more informed safety-related decisions to save lives and reduce serious injuries