Use of Pavement Markings To Reduce Rear-End Conflicts at Commercial Driveway Locations

Abstract

Rear-end collisions are a substantial source of injuries and property damage. Some rear-end crashes occur when a moving vehicle slows to execute a turning maneuver and the driver of a trailing vehicle does not react appropriately. To explore the possibility of reducing the likelihood of collisions in these situations, an experiment was conducted by using a pavement marking designed to prompt drivers of through vehicles to watch for turning vehicles in the same lane. These were placed several hundred feet in advance of commercial driveways, at four intersections. Potential conflicts between turning vehicles and through vehicles were measured before and after installation of markings. Conflicts were reduced at three sites, although at one site that had unusual geometry, conflicts increased.