Left-Turn and Rumble Strip Treatments for Rural Intersections: Project Summary Report

Traffic conflicts due to turns at intersections and driveways are among the leading causes of crash problems associated with roadway design or traffic operations. Department of Public Safety data for the year 2000 show that 37 percent of rural crashes are intersection, intersection-related, or driveway related crashes. Rural crashes at or near intersections or driveways can be further categorized by movement. The largest percentage are left turn related at 31 percent. With the highest percentage of crashes at or near intersections being left-turn related, a better understanding of left-turn driver behavior is appropriate. Straight, single-vehicle crashes in rural areas (12 percent) as compared to urban areas (5 gercent) indicate a greater need for treatments warning drivers of a downstream intersection in rural areas than in urban areas. Additional investigation of single-vehicle rural crashes revealed that the greatest percentage of these crashes (43 percent) are occuning at T-intersections, followed by four entering roads at 19 percent.