A presentation on

Presented By:
Dr. Abdullah Ahmad
Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Srinagar

•Sight Distance
•Types of Sight Distance
 Sight Distance
 It is the length of road visible ahead to the driver
at any instance.
 Sight distance available from a point is the actual
distance along the road surface, from a specified height above the
carriageway which a driver has visibility of stationary or moving
objects.
 Sight Distance
 At all times, the driver traveling at the design speed of the highway
must have sufficient carriageway distance within his line of vision
to allow him to stop his vehicle
before colliding with a slowly moving
or stationary object appearing suddenly in his own
traffic lane.
 Types of Sight Distance
 Stopping sight distance(SSD)
 Intermediate sight distance
 Overtaking or passing sight distance (OSD)
 Head light sight distance
 Sight distance for entering into the uncontrolled intersection
 Types of Sight Distance
Stopping sight distance:
• The minimum sight distance available on a highway at any spot
should be of sufficient length to stop a vehicle traveling at design
speed, safely without collision with any other obstruction.
Intermediate sight distance:
• When overtaking sight distance can not be provided, Intermediate
sight distance is provided to give limited overtaking opportunities
to fast vehicles. To provide an opportunity for overtaking
• operation on horizontal curves or in restricted areas, we provide
intermediate sight distance, i.e. equals to twice of stopping sight6
distance.
 Types of Sight Distance
Over taking sight distance:
The minimum distance open to the vision of the driver of a
vehicle intending to overtake slow vehicle ahead with safety
against the traffic of opposite direction is known as the minimum
overtaking sight distance (OSD) or the safe passing sight
distance.

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 Types of Sight Distance
Head light sight distance:
•This is the distance visible to a driver during night driving under
the illumination of the vehicle head lights.
•This sight distance is critical at up-gradients and at the ascending
stretch of the valley curves.
•The headlight sight distance is considered same as stopping sight
distance in day time.
•It is the maximum distance visible ahead of a driver moving on
vehicle during night time.
•The formula for Headlight Sight Distance stands same as in case
of Stopping Sight Distance.
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 Types of Sight Distance
Sight distance at intersection:
» Driver entering an uncontrolled intersection (particularly
unsignalised Intersection) has sufficient visibility to enable him to
take control of his vehicle and to avoid collision with another
vehicle.
» The area of unobstructed sight formed by the lines of vision is
called the sight triangle.

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 Types of Sight Distance
Sight distance at intersection:

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Sight distance at intersection:

The design of intersection sight distance is to be done using the

three possible conditions as below.
1. To enable the change of speed for a vehicle,
2. Enable stopping of the vehicle nearing the approach, and
3. Enabling the stopped vehicles on the minor road to safely
cross the main road at intersection.
 Stopping Sight Distance
 It is the minimum sight distance available on a highway at any
spot having sufficient length to enable the driver to stop a
vehicle traveling at design speed, safely without collision with
any other obstruction.
 Stopping Sight Distance
Factors Affecting the SSD
• Total reaction time of the driver
• Speed of vehicle
• Efficiency of brakes
• Frictional resistance between road and tyre
• Gradient of road
 Stopping Sight Distance
 The stopping sight distance is the sum of lag distance and
the braking distance.
Lag Distance:
 The distance travelled by the vehicle during the total
reaction time is known as lag distance .
 Lag distance = v * t=0.278 V * t
Where, v = speed of vehicle in m/s
V= speed in kmph
t = total reaction time (s)
 Reaction time of the driver is the
time taken from the instant the
object is visible to the driver to
the instant the brakes are
effectively applied.
 Acc. To PIEV theory the total
reaction time of the driver is split
into four parts.
Perception Time:
 It is the time required for the
sensations received by the eyes or
ears to be transmitted to the brain
through the nervous system.
Intellection Time:
 It is the time required for
understanding the situation.
Emotion Time:
 it is time elapsed during emotional
sensations & Disturbance such as fear,
anger, etc. with reference to the situation
Volition Time:
It is the time taken for the final action.

 Total reaction time may be vary from 0.5 sec to 4 sec.

 As per IRC Total Reaction Time= 2.5s.
 Total reaction time may be vary from 0.5 sec to 4 sec.
 As per IRC Total Reaction Time= 2.5s.
 Total Reaction Time of a driver depends on several factors
such as:
 Physical & psychological characteristics of the driver.
 Type of the problem involved.
 Environmental conditions.
 Temporary factors.
Braking Characteristics
 For a level road, the distance travelled is obtained by equating the
work done in stopping the vehicle and the kinetic energy of the
vehicle.

Work done against friction in stopping the vehicle

F = fWl…………………………(1)

where
– F= maximum frictional force
– W = the total weight of the vehicle.
– f= Coefficient of longitudinal friction
– l= Total distance travelled
Braking Characteristics

…….(2)
Stopping Sight Distance = Lag Distance + Braking Distance

 Where, v = speed of vehicle in m/s

V= speed in kmph
t = total reaction time (s)
 When there is an ascending gradient of say +n%, the component of
gravity adds to braking action and hence braking distance is
decreased.
 The component of gravity acting parallel to the surface which adds
to the braking force is equal to W sin α ≈ W tan α = Wn ⁄100.
 Equating kinetic energy and work done:

α
 Similarly the braking distance can be derived for a descending
gradient. Therefore the general equation for SSD is given by

Coefficient of longitudinal friction

Speed, kmph 30 40 50 60 ˃80
Longitudinal
coefficient of 0.40 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.35
friction
Example-1
 Calculate the safe stopping sight distance for the design speed
of 60kmph for (a) two-way traffic on two-lane roads and (b)
two-way traffic on single-lane roads. Assume f=0.36, and
reaction time 2.5 sec
 Example-2

• Calculate the stopping sight distance on a highway at a descending

gradient of 2% for a design speed of 80kmph, assuming other data as
per IRC specification.
 Example-3

• Calculate the minimum sight distance required to avoid a head on

collision of two cars approaching from opposite directions at 90 and
60 kmph. Assume a reaction time of 2.5 seconds, coefficient of
friction of 0.7 and a brake efficiency of 50 percent, in both cases.
 Example-4

• The design speed of a road is 65 kmph, the friction coefficient is

0.36 and reaction time of driver is 2.5 sec. Calculate the value of (a)
Head light sight distance and (b) Intermediate sight distance required
for the road.