A simple method for identifying and correcting crash problems on urban arterial streets

Urban arterials by their nature carry heavy traffic volumes and generate la rge numbers of motor vehicle crashes. The present study involved review of police crash reports to identify precrash events and driver actions for a s ample of crashes on urban arterials and describes a method for reducing suc h crashes based on analyses of collision patterns and identification of loc ations with excessive numbers of crashes of a particular type. Police-repor ted crash data were obtained for three urban arterials in the Washington, D C metropolitan area. A total of 2013 crash reports were analyzed. Seven cra sh types accounted for nearly 90% of these reports. On each arterial studie d, several locations with excessive numbers of crashes of a particular type were identified, and corresponding engineering countermeasures were recomm ended. Differences between the approach employed in this study and traditio nal blackspot analyses are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.