Methodology to identify hazardous locations for highways in Puerto Rico

The main purpose of this research was to establish a procedure for the identification of hazardous road sections with high incidence of fatalities. The fatal accident database of the Puerto Rico Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) was evaluated during the period of 1995 through 2003 with emphasis on those accidents associated with highways in the west region of Puerto Rico. The original database was filtered using descriptive statistical analysis. The Puerto Rico fatal database was compared with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and trends were established. Pareto Analysis Tecnique was then applied for the identification and selection of hazardous segments. This procedure allowed identifying the few vital problems and dividing them from the many trivial. A hazardous index was computed using the fatal crash rate, severity and frequency of fatalities for each road section. The methodology allowed identifying and discriminating segments from intersections. Field inspections were also performed for the calibration and validation of the analysis based on the standard procedures described on the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, Roadside Design Guide (RDG), and the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority (PRHTA) Specifications, Standard Drawings and Design Directives. The Accident Modification Factors (AMF) and the Crash Reduction Factors (CRF) were used for the different countermeasures recommended.; Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) data from the PRHTA were used for traffic forecasting of all highway segments and years under study. Then, the Rate per Hundred Million Vehicles Miles (RMVM) was computed. The Pareto diagram technique using the variable RMVM allowed to identify the most hazardous road segments in the western region of the island. These were highway PR-2 from km. 154.8 to 155.3 at Mayaguez, PR-115 from km. 7.0 to 7.1 at Anasco, PR-459 from km. 4.0 to 4.1 at Aguadilla, PR-100 from km 9.0 to 9.3 at Cabo Rojo, and PR-2 from km. 172.0 to 172.1 at San German. The results showed that although human behavior is the major cause for fatal crashes, road segments with safety deficiencies higher incidence of fatalities. The PR-2 segments had in common the fatalities that occurred mostly on weekends at night and were related to driving over the speed limit. The segments located near universities have fatalities occurring mainly at night and are related to alcohol consumption and speed. The segments located near tourist areas have high incidence of fatalities although they were registered at different times during a given day.; The recommendations of this research study included improvements in the data recollection process, educational campaigns, law enforcement, installation of lighting systems, median barriers, pavement markings, raised pavement markers, guardrail upgrade, geometric and operation improvements in horizontal and vertical alignment, and prohibit motor vehicle parking on shoulders.