HIGHWAY SAFETY

CHAPTER 4
NETWORK -SCREENING

RAWAND MOHAMMED
PhD STUDENT
 NETWORK SCREENING

Key tool in a highway safety improvement

program
Definition:-

A process for reviewing a transportation

network to identify and rank sites from most
likely to least likely to realize a reduction in
crash frequency with implementation of a
countermeasure.

2
 PEAK SEARCHING METHOD
Question
Segment B, in an urban four-lane divided arterial reference
population, will be screened using the Excess Expected Average
Crash Frequency performance measure. Segment B is 0.47 mi
long USING A WINDOW LENGTH OF 0.1mi. The CV limiting
value is assumed to be 0.25. how is the segment potentially
ranked relative to other sites considered in the screening?
 SOLUTION :- ITERATION #1
1.Calculate mean and variance of the five sub-segments.

Mean = (5.2+7.8+1.1+6.5+7.8)/5 = 5.7

VARB = [(5.2-5.7)^2+(7.8-5.7)^2+(1.1 5.7)^2+(6.5-
5.7)^2+(7.8-5.7) ^2]/(5-1) = 7.7

2. The Coefficient of Variation for Segment B1 is calculated using

Equation 4-1 as shown below:

( )
Coefficient Of Variation (CV) =

 .
CVB1= =0.53
.

3- Calculate the CVs for each sub-section, which are: 0.53, 0.36, 2.53, 0.43,
0.36.
4-
large CV indicates a low level of precision in the estimate.
small CV indicates a high level of precision in the estimate.
If the calculated CV is less than or equal to the CV limiting
value, the performance measure meets the desired precision
level
If the calculated CV is greater than the CV limiting value, the
window is automatically removed from further consideration
in potentially ranking the segment
5- None of these is below or equal to the limiting CV, so the process needs
to continue.
 ITERATION #2
Sub-segment Position Excess Expected Crash C.V.
Frequency
B1 0.00-0.20 6.50 0.25
B2 0.10-0.30 4.45 0.36
B3 0.20-0.40 3.80 0.42
B4 0.27-0.47 7.15 0.22

1.Calculate mean and variance of the five sub-segments:

Mean = (6.5+4.45+33.80+7.15)/5 = 5.5
VARB = [(6.5-5.5)^2+(4.45-5.5)^2+(3.8 5.5)^2+(7.15-5.5)^2/(4-1) = 2.57
2. Calculate the Coefficient of Variation:

.
CVB1= =0.25
.
In the second iteration, the site is analyzed using 0.2-mi
windows.
the CVs for subsegments B1 and B4 are less than or equal
to the CV limiting value of 0.25.
Segment B would be ranked based upon the maximum
value of the performance measures calculated for
subsegments B1 and B4.
Segment B would be ranked and compared to other
segments according to the 7.15 Excess Expected Crash
Frequency calculated for subsegment B4.
If during Iteration 2, none of the calculated CVs were less
than the CV limiting value, a third iteration would have
been necessary with 0.3-mi window lengths, and so on,
until the final window length considered would be equal to
the segment length of 0.47 mi.
 PERFORMANCE MEASURE METHODS
AND SAMPLE APPLICATIONS
Sample Situation
A roadway agency is undertaking an effort to improve safety on their
highway network. They are screening twenty intersections to identify
sites with potential for reducing the crash frequency.
The Facts
All of the intersections have four approaches and are in rural
areas;
Thirteen are signalized intersections and 7 are unsignalized (two-
way stop controlled) intersections;
Major and Minor Street AADT volumes are provided in Table 4-4;
A summary of crash data over the same three years as the traffic
volumes is shown in Table 4-5; and
Three years of detailed intersection crash data is shown in Table 4-
6.
PROCEDURE :-

(1) AVERAGE CRASH FREQUENCY ( 2 STEPS)

STEP 1Sum Crashes for Each Location
Count the number of crashes that occurred at each intersection.

Total crash at each intersection = no.

of fatal crashes + no. of injury crashes
+ no. of PDO
STEP 2Rank Locations
The intersections can be ranked in descending order by the number of one or
more of the following: total crashes, fatal and injury crashes, or PDO crashes.
(2) CRASH RATE ( 3 STEPS)
STEP 1Calculate MEV (Million entering vehicles)
Calculate the million entering vehicles for all 3 years.

MEV=(TEV/ 1,000,000)

Where:
MEV = Million entering vehicles
TEV = Total entering vehicles per day
n = Number of years of crash data
 Total Entering Vehicles
This table summarizes the total entering
volume (TEV) for all sample intersections.
The TEV is a sum of the major and
minor street AADT found in Table 4-4.
TEV is converted to MEV as shown in the
following equation for Intersection 7:
.
MEV=( )
,,
STEP 2Calculate the Crash Rate
Calculate the crash rate for each intersection by dividing the total number
of crashes by MEV for the 3-year study period as shown in Equation 4-3.

R= Nobserved, i(total) /MEVi

Where:
Ri = Observed crash rate at intersection i
Nobserved,i(total) = Total observed crashes at intersection i
MEVi = Million entering vehicles at intersection i
Below is the crash rate calculation for Intersection 7. The total number of crashes
for each intersection is summarized in Table 4-5.

crash rate = 34/24.1 = 1.4[crashes/MEV]

Step 3Rank Intersections
Rank the intersections based on
their crash rates.
(3) EQUIVALENT PROPERTY DAMAGE ONLY
(EPDO)
( 3 STEPS)

STEP 1Calculate EDPO Weights

Calculate the EPDO weights for fatal, injury, and PDO crashes.
The fatal and injury weights are calculated using Equation 4-4.
The cost of a fatal or injury crash is divided by the cost of a PDO crash,
respectively.
Weighting factors developed from local crash cost data typically result in
the most accurate results.
If local information is not available, nationwide crash cost data is
available from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
 The weighting factors are calculated as follows:

fy(weight) = CCy/CC PDO

Where:
fy(weight) = Weighting factor based on crash severity, y
CCy = Crash cost for crash severity, y
CCPDO = Crash cost for PDO crash severity
As shown, a sample calculation for the injury (A/B/C) EPDO
weight (f inj(weight)) is:
F inj(weight) = 82,600 $ /7,400 $ =11
Therefore, the weighting factors for
all crash severities are shown in
the following table:
STEP 2Calculate EPDO Scores
For each intersection, multiply the EPDO weights by the corresponding
number of fatal, injury, and PDO crashes as shown in Equation 4-5. The
frequency of PDO, Injury, and Fatal crashes is based on the number of
crashes, not the number of injuries per crash.
STEP 3Rank Locations
The intersections can be ranked in descending order by the
EPDO score.
the calculation of EPDO Score for
Intersection 7 is:
Total EPDO Score7 = (542 1) + (11 17)
+ (1 16) = 745
The ranking for the 20 intersections
is based on EPDO method. The
results of calculations for
Intersection 7 are highlighted.
(4) RELATIVE SEVERITY INDEX (RSI)
( 4 STEPS )
STEP 1Calculate RSI Costs per Crash Type
1. For each intersection, multiply the observed average crash frequency for
each crash type by their respective RSI crash cost.
2. The RSI crash cost per crash type is calculated for each location under
consideration. The following example contains the detailed summary of
the crashes by type at each intersection.
3. This table summarizes the number of crashes by crash type at
Intersection 7 over the last three years
STEP 2Calculate Average RSI Cost for Each Intersection
STEP 3Calculate the Average RSI Cost for Each Population
Calculate the average RSI cost for the population (the control group) by
summing the total RSI costs for each site and dividing by the total number of
crashes within the population.
STEP 4Rank Locations and Compare
The average RSI costs are calculated by dividing the RSI crash cost for each
intersection by the number of crashes for the same intersection. The average
RSI cost per intersection is also compared to the average RSI cost for its
respective population.
 (5) CRITICAL RATE ( 5 STEPS)
STEP 1Calculate MEV for Each Intersection
STEP 2Calculate the Crash Rate for Each Intersection
STEP 3Calculate Weighted Average Crash Rate per
Population
STEP 4Calculate Critical Crash Rate for Each Intersection
STEP 5Compare Observed Crash Rate with Critical Crash
Rate
 (6) EXCESS PREDICTED AVERAGE CRASH
FREQUENCY USING METHOD OF MOMENTS
( SIX STEPS)
STEP 1Establish Reference Populations
Organize historical crash data of the study period based upon factors such
as facility type, location, or other defining characteristics.
The intersections from Table 4-4 have been organized into two reference
populations, as shown in the first table for two way stop controlled
intersections and in the second table for signalized intersections.
STEP 2 Calculate Average Crash Frequency per Reference Population
STEP 3 Calculate Crash Frequency Variance per Reference Population
STEP 4Calculate Adjusted Observed Crash Frequency per Site
STEP 5Calculate Potential for Improvement per Site
STEP 6Rank Sites According to PI
Rank all sites from highest to lowest PI value. A negative PI value is not only
possible but indicates a low potential for crash reduction.