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Rural roadway scenery often includes winding roads that disappear into the horizon. These winding road types have horizontal curves and are very common on rural two-lane roads.
As beautiful as they are, horizontal curves can become a risk when drivers do not immediately notice them upon their approach, which increases the risk for a roadway departure (RwD).
The overall theme of Rural Road Safety Awareness Week (RRSAW) is, “Life Between the Lines: Preventing Rural Roadway Departures.” For Day 3, we are focusing on sharp curves and the life-saving countermeasures that can make them safer for all road users.
Curves have an impact on traffic crashes.
A variety of countermeasures that prevent and reduce RwD at sharp curves are available to rural road practitioners. For example, by installing chevrons at curves, nighttime crashes can be reduced by 25 percent. Edge and center line markings, appropriate curve advisory speeds, friction treatments, and rumble strips/stripes are more examples of countermeasures that help prevent RwDs at curves.
Wooosh! No sharp curve is left untouched when ChevRon is on the rural road. ChevRon flattens slopes on the outside of curves, deploys chevrons, implements dynamic curve warning systems, and installs speed advisory markings.
To see ChevRon in action, click the image below.
Safe System Approach (SSA)
Regarding curves, the Safe Roads element of SSA promotes traffic control devices that alert road users to an approaching curve and the operating speed. These devices, paired with road design that help keep vehicles in their lane and reduce the potential and severity of crashes, can save lives at rural curves.
Everyday actions that reduce RwDs
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The National Center for Rural Road Safety provides coordinated, multidisciplinary, scalable, and accessible safety resources in order to empower rural road users to accelerate road safety improvements and save lives.
