HIGH-OCCUPANCY VEHICLE FACILITY SAFETY IN CALIFORNIA

The findings of a study on how high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) facility operation affects the safety of selected California freeways are documented. The principal conclusion supported by the findings is that the accident rates on freeways with HOV facilities are sensitive to variations in traffic congestion in much the same manner that accident rates are influenced by congestion on non-HOV facilities. Careful investigation of the patterns of accident characteristics revealed no systematic differences in the lane locations of accidents or other factors that could be attributed directly to the presence of the HOV facilities. Freeways with and without HOV facilities appear to be characterized by the presence of locations where peak-period accidents are clustered, typically because of localized congestion conditions.