1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,823
(upbeat music)

2
00:00:11,420 --> 00:00:14,220
- Roadway Departure
Crashes are a leading cause

3
00:00:14,220 --> 00:00:17,580
of injuries and deaths
on our state roadways.

4
00:00:17,580 --> 00:00:19,270
Even though there are numerous things

5
00:00:19,270 --> 00:00:22,280
that can be done to prevent
these crashes from happening.

6
00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,690
There are simply too many lane miles

7
00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:26,550
to be cost-effective.

8
00:00:26,550 --> 00:00:30,170
Researchers with the Texas
A&M Transportation Institute

9
00:00:30,170 --> 00:00:34,130
have developed a new analysis
to pinpoint those roads where

10
00:00:34,130 --> 00:00:36,820
countermeasures should be implemented.

11
00:00:36,820 --> 00:00:37,910
- Roadway Departure Crashes,

12
00:00:37,910 --> 00:00:41,870
is a crash where a vehicle
actually leaves the travel lane

13
00:00:41,870 --> 00:00:43,640
that can either be to the right.

14
00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,070
And if they leave to the right

15
00:00:45,070 --> 00:00:46,575
they'd leave off the pavement.

16
00:00:46,575 --> 00:00:49,815
There may be obstacles
there, trees, power poles.

17
00:00:49,815 --> 00:00:51,450
The other way they leave the road

18
00:00:51,450 --> 00:00:55,120
is to the left, which can
lead to an head-on collision.

19
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,520
- When a Roadway Departure Crash happens

20
00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,840
it's a chain of events
that typically starts

21
00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,340
with maybe a distraction or
a mechanical malfunctions.

22
00:01:03,340 --> 00:01:05,170
This is the stuff that we as engineers.

23
00:01:05,170 --> 00:01:08,060
We cannot predict that
when is that gonna happen?

24
00:01:08,060 --> 00:01:09,490
Where is that gonna happen?

25
00:01:09,490 --> 00:01:11,416
And when it happens, you know,

26
00:01:11,416 --> 00:01:14,230
everything that you did in
the road to make it safe,

27
00:01:14,230 --> 00:01:15,650
it's not useful anymore.

28
00:01:15,650 --> 00:01:19,160
Do you need to go to plan
B, which is the roadside

29
00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:20,830
you need to have the roadside protected.

30
00:01:20,830 --> 00:01:22,890
So that, that person is not gonna die.

31
00:01:22,890 --> 00:01:23,723
- In this project.

32
00:01:23,723 --> 00:01:27,180
We're really trying to find
the best systemic approach

33
00:01:27,180 --> 00:01:29,770
for prioritizing sites
that are more at risk

34
00:01:29,770 --> 00:01:33,860
of a roadway departure based
on actual data from Texas,

35
00:01:33,860 --> 00:01:34,970
we look at speed.

36
00:01:34,970 --> 00:01:38,040
We look at curve density,
shoulder width, lane width.

37
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,130
And so to physically measure all of that

38
00:01:40,130 --> 00:01:43,650
all the way across the state
of Texas was insurmountable.

39
00:01:43,650 --> 00:01:44,483
It's too much.

40
00:01:44,483 --> 00:01:48,900
So Google earth is the
next best option on trying

41
00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:50,250
to capture that data.

42
00:01:50,250 --> 00:01:53,290
And while Google is not
accurate to the centimeter

43
00:01:53,290 --> 00:01:56,790
for this type of information,
10 foot-12 foot lane,

44
00:01:56,790 --> 00:01:59,020
that that can be captured out at Google.

45
00:01:59,020 --> 00:02:01,210
- There's three types of
things that you can do

46
00:02:01,210 --> 00:02:03,750
to prevent Roadway Departure Crashes.

47
00:02:03,750 --> 00:02:08,090
You can design the road with parameters

48
00:02:08,090 --> 00:02:09,340
that makes it less likely,

49
00:02:09,340 --> 00:02:12,220
say a horizontal curve, it's very tight.

50
00:02:12,220 --> 00:02:15,290
That's gonna be very prone
to roadway departure.

51
00:02:15,290 --> 00:02:19,090
You can also try to give them feedback

52
00:02:19,090 --> 00:02:20,803
when they are gonna depart.

53
00:02:21,930 --> 00:02:26,070
I don't know if you're
familiar with, rumble strips.

54
00:02:26,070 --> 00:02:28,040
The idea of that is you're distracted.

55
00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,610
You're going off the road,
but then your car vibrates

56
00:02:30,610 --> 00:02:33,870
and that gives you some
sense to go back, right?

57
00:02:33,870 --> 00:02:36,680
The other strategy is
once you departed the road

58
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:38,350
say you're in the shoulder,

59
00:02:38,350 --> 00:02:40,646
the wider the shoulder the likelihood

60
00:02:40,646 --> 00:02:43,210
of you coming back to the road is higher.

61
00:02:43,210 --> 00:02:44,750
There are strategies, okay?

62
00:02:44,750 --> 00:02:46,450
The person's already out of the road

63
00:02:46,450 --> 00:02:48,335
already out of the shoulder.

64
00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:50,560
Now let's make it less likely that,

65
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:51,690
that person is gonna die.

66
00:02:51,690 --> 00:02:53,550
So if you hit a tree head on,

67
00:02:53,550 --> 00:02:55,800
your likelihood of dying is really high,

68
00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:57,540
but if there's a guard rail there,

69
00:02:57,540 --> 00:03:00,760
then that diminishes the
chances of you dying.

70
00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,820
- I think always a good
research project leads

71
00:03:02,820 --> 00:03:04,165
to more research.

72
00:03:04,165 --> 00:03:06,080
I think one of the options would be

73
00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:07,880
to pilot some of the districts,

74
00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,290
obviously Texas is a huge state

75
00:03:10,290 --> 00:03:12,590
with lots of geographical areas.

76
00:03:12,590 --> 00:03:16,000
And so we really try to see
West Texas versus East Texas

77
00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:17,600
you know, does this data

78
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,800
when you put in a pilot
and start condensing in

79
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,610
the site area and gather more information,

80
00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:26,190
does it still confirm
what we think we know

81
00:03:26,190 --> 00:03:28,880
and for the positive
results that came out of it,

82
00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:30,380
we double down on what works.

83
00:03:30,380 --> 00:03:33,150
If we know texture works on shoulders,

84
00:03:33,150 --> 00:03:35,250
then we continue to find ways to do that.

85
00:03:35,250 --> 00:03:37,720
Whether it's through construction
funds or safety funds

86
00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:39,620
or however we go about doing it,

87
00:03:39,620 --> 00:03:41,790
we try to ensure that we're
implementing the things

88
00:03:41,790 --> 00:03:44,870
that we know are good
things on our projects

89
00:03:44,870 --> 00:03:45,940
- For more information,

90
00:03:45,940 --> 00:03:48,480
and to find the publications
for this project,

91
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,360
please visit the TxDOT Research Library

92
00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:52,753
at the link shown below.