Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Are Simplistic Weather-Related Motorist Warning Systems "All Wet"?

Abstract:

This paper documents the findings of an automated motorist warning system for wet pavement conditions that was developed for field evaluation. The field performance evaluation was based on the system's ability to automatically warn motorists of wet pavement conditions, as evidenced by a reduction in vehicle speeds and the number and severity of wet pavement crashes. The demonstration site was the northbound Turnpike exit ramp to eastbound-westbound I-595. This ramp exhibited the single highest crash rate during wet pavement conditions (69 percent) of all the interchange ramps. The demonstration proved to be effective in reducing 85th percentile speeds, with a 10-mph reduction during heavy rain and a 5-mph reduction during light rain. Following the first week of system activation, there were also no reported crashes during the 9-week "after" evaluation period.

Source(s):

7th World Congress on ITS; University of South Florida, Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR). For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2000

Author:

Pietrzyk

Keywords:

Pavement condition
Vehicle detection
Motorist warning system
Crashes
Safety
Traveler information

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