Crash modification functions for pavement surface condition and geometric design indicators

The combined contribution to highway safety of pavement surface and geometric design indicators is not well investigated due to the complexity of data collection and high time variability of pavement surface conditions. Introduction of high efficiency equipment for comprehensive road surveys is mitigating this issue, expanding possibilities of data integration. In this framework, the present study developed crash modification functions (CMFs) of pavement surface and geometric design indicators for different crash types (total, run-off-the-road, and others), pavement conditions (dry and wet), and lighting conditions (daytime and nighttime) based on data from two-lane rural highways in Italy. Geometric and pavement data were surveyed with the Automatic Road Analyzer and the Grip Tester. Pavement surface condition data were corrected to the crash time by pavement performance deterioration models based on traffic load to account for the variation in pavement conditions over time. Crash, traffic and weather data were retrieved from national and local databases. This study used safety performance functions (SPFs), fitted with generalized linear modelling techniques and a negative binomial distribution error structure, for developing CMFs. The SPFs were used to quantify the effect of a specific variable on crash occurrence and CMFs were then derived from the model coefficients. CMFs were developed for the following parameters: Grip Number, International Roughness Index, curvature change ratio, coefficient of variation of the curvature, maximum superelevation deficiency, and minimum lane width. According to the study results, an increase in friction, as measured by the Grip Number, is associated with a reduction in crash frequency while an increase in roughness, as measured by the International Roughness Index, is associated with an increase in crash frequency. Thus, both pavement maintenance treatments aimed at increasing friction as well as treatments aimed at reducing irregularities have a positive safety effect, especially when wet, run-off-the-road or nighttime crashes are overrepresented. Study results allow to effectively integrate pavement management systems and safety management systems. When developing paving schedules, transportation agencies often base their decisions on asset management condition targets but do not explicitly account for the role of pavement conditions in highway safety. Availability of CMFs for both pavement surface parameters as well as geometric design parameters is crucial to improve pavement and geometric characteristics considering their safety effects.