Publication Year:
2021 Road Safety Award
Lane departure crashes are one of the most over-represented fatal and serious injury crash types on North Carolinas roadways. They comprise 55 percent of fatal and serious injury crashes in the state, with almost 14,000 such crashes occurring from 2015 to 2019. With over 80,000 miles of roadway under its jurisdiction, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for one of the nation's largest highway systems, and is proactively looking for low-cost and high-return safety solutions to prevent lane departure crashes and drive down fatal and serious injury trends.
To this end, NCDOT undertook an effort to investigate, install, and evaluate a promising low-cost solution on rural, two-lane roadways: long-life pavement markings. Designed to provide improved roadway delineation and motorist guidance, these markings are available in a variety of widths, media, and materials, so NCDOT sought to determine the safety return, longevity/durability, and cost-effectiveness implications of each type.