EFFECT OF KERBED MEDIAN STRIPS ON ACCIDENT RATES ON URBAN ROADS

FROM AN ANALYSIS OF SOME 3400 RECORDED ACCIDENTS, IT IT WAS FOUND THAT WHERE CURBED MEDIAN STRIPS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED IN MAIN ROADS HEAD-ON COLLISIONS HAVE DECREASED. BUT THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN THE "HIT-OBJECT" AND SIDE-SWIPE ACCIDENTS AT MID-BLOCKS, AS WELL AS REAR-END COLLISIONS, NOT-YIELD-RIGHT-OF- WAY AND NOT-TURN-RIGHT-WITH-SAFETY ACCIDENTS AT MINOR INTERSECTIONS. THE INCREASES, IN GENERAL, OCCURRED ON NARROW ROADS WHERE THE WIDTHS, INCLUSIVE OF A 3 FT MEDIAN STRIP, WERE 56 AND 58 FT. AT TRAFFIC SIGNAL CONTROLLED INTERSECTIONS, ACCIDENT RATES DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AS A RESULT OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CURBED MEDIAN STRIPS. /AUTHOR/