THE EFFECT OF FLASHING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES ON ACCIDENT OCCURRENCE

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF FLASHING DEVICES WAS EVALUATED IN REDUCING THE TOTAL ACCIDENT RATE AT INTERSECTIONS ON THE RURAL STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM. SEVERAL OTHER VARIABLES WERE CONSIDERED WHILE THE RELATION BETWEEN TYPE OF FLASHING DEVICE AND REDUCTION IN ACCIDENT RATE WAS BEING FORMULATED. THESE VARIABLES WERE FLASHER CONSPICUITY, INTERSECTION GEOMETRICS, VOLUME, AND LINE OF SIGHT DISTANCE. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE REDUCTION IN INTERSECTION ACCIDENT RATE WAS OPTIMIZED THROUGH THE USE OF A PARTICULAR TYPE OF FLASHING DEVICE IN COMBINATION WITH CERTAIN INTERSECTION GEOMETRICS. IT WAS ALSO DETERMINED THAT THE VARIABLES OF INTERSECTION GEOMETRICS AND TOTAL INTERSECTION VOLUME PLACE LIMITING CONSTRAINTS ON THIS RELATIONSHIP. THIS RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN TWO PHASES. THE SIMULATOR STUDY OF FLASHER CONSPICUITY AND THE DETERMINATION OF THEIR LUMINANCE VALUES WAS CONDUCTED BY THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, AND THE REMAINDER OF THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED BY THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS. THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED JOINTLY BY THESE GROUPS AND REPRESENTS THE TOTAL PROJECT EFFORT. /AUTHOR/