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Guidelines And Recommendations To Accommodate Older Drivers and Pedestrians

Publication Number: FHWA-RD-01-051
Date: May 2001

Guidelines And Recommendations To Accommodate Older Drivers and Pedestrians

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FOREWORD

The proportion of the population over age 65 is growing significantly. Older road users can be expected to have problems driving and as pedestrians, given the known changes in their perceptual, cognitive, and psychomotor performances, presenting many challenges to transportation engineers, who must ensure system safety while increasing operational efficiency.

This Guidelines and Recommendations document provides practitioners with a condensed source of practical information that links older road user characteristics to highway design, operational, and traffic engineering recommendations by addressing specific roadway features. These Guidelines and Recommendations supplement existing standards and guidelines in the areas of highway geometry, operations, and traffic control devices.

The information in thisdocument should be of interest to highway designers, traffic engineers, and highway safety specialists involved in the design and operation of highway facilities. In addition, this document will be of interest to researchers concerned with issues of older road user safety and mobility. The rationale and supporting evidence used to develop these recommendations, summarizing over three decades of highway safety research, is contained in the Highway Design Handbook for Older Drivers and Pedestrians, FHWA-RD-01-103.

Copies of this report can be obtained through the FHWA Research and Technology Report Center, 9701 Philadelphia Court, Unit Q, Lanham, Maryland 20706, telephone: (301) 577-0906, fax: (301) 577-1421, or the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia, 22161, telephone: (703) 487-4650, fax: (703) 321-8547.

Michael F. Trentacoste
Director, Office of Safety
Research and Development

Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.

The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.

Quality Assurance Statement

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high–quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.

TECHNICAL REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE

1. Report No. FHWA–RD–01–051		2. Government Accession No.		3. Recipient's Catalog No.
4. Title and Subtitle GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO ACCOMMODATE OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS				5. Report Date May 2001
				6. Performing Organization Code 1495
7. Author(s) Staplin, L., Lococo, K., Byington, S., and Harkey, D.				8. Performing Organization Report No. 1495/FR
9. Performing Organization Name and Address The Scientex Corporation 2000 14^th Street, N. #300 Arlington, VA 22201 TransAnalytics, LLC 1722 Sumneytown Pike, Box 328 Kulpsville, PA 19443				10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) NCP. No. 3A6a–0042
				11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61–97–C–00050
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Office of Safety and Traffic Operations R&D Federal Highway Administration 6300 Georgetown Pike McLean, VA 22101–2296				13. Type of Report and Period Covered Final Report Sept. 1997 – May 2001
				14. Sponsoring Agency Code
15. Supplementary Notes COTR: Joseph Moyer, HRDS–07; Elizabeth Alicandri, HSA–20; Kelley Pecheux, HRDS–07/SAIC
16. Abstract This project updated, revised, and expanded the scope of the Older Driver Highway Design Handbook published by FHWA in 1998. Development of the updated Handbook (FHWA–RD–01–103) was complemented by a technology transfer initiative to make practitioners aware of the Handbook and assist in applying its recommendations. This included the development of a condensed document presenting recommendations and implementation guidelines only; plus printed and electronic materials supporting the conduct of practitioner workshops throughout the U.S. in the 1999–2001 period. Consistent with the full Handbook, this Guidelines and Recommendations document incorporates new research findings and technical developments; and extensive feedback from state, county, and municipal engineers who reviewed and applied recommendations from the 1998 publication. Guidance on how and when to implement the included recommendations is included, as well as codes which indicate at a glance the relationship of each recommendation with standard design manuals \ including the MUTCD and the AASHTO Green Book. All research products developed under this contract are designed to provide practical guidance to engineers to accommodate the needs and functional limitations of an aging population of road users. Included recommendations are directed toward new construction, reconstruction, scheduled maintenance, and 'spot treatments' to ameliorate demonstrated safety problems, emphasizing countermeasures with modest additional cost during installation and the potential for cost savings over the life cycle.
17. Key Words Safety, Highway Design, Highway Operations, Driver Age, Driver Performance, Human Factors, Vision, Attention, Perception, Cognition, Memory, Physical Ability, Risk Perception, Hazard Perception.			18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.
19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified	20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified			21. No. of Pages 86	22. Price

Form DOT F 1700.7 (8–72)

Reproduction of completed page authorized

SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors

INTRODUCTION

HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK

RECOMMENDATIONS

INTERSECTIONS (AT–GRADE)
Background and Scope of Handbook Recommendations
Recommendations by Design Element
INTERCHANGES (GRADE SEPARATION)
Background and Scope of Handbook Recommendations
Recommendations by Design Element
ROADWAY CURVATURE AND PASSING ZONES
Background and Scope of Handbook Recommendations
Recommendations by Design Element
CONSTRUCTION/WORK ZONES
Background and Scope of Handbook Recommendations
Recommendations by Design Element
HIGHWAY–RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS (PASSIVE)
Background and Scope of Handbook Recommendations
Recommendations by Design Element
1. Passive Crossing Control Devices

SUPPLEMENTAL TECHNICAL NOTES

REFERENCES

FHWA-RD-01-051

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Page Owner: Office of Research, Development, and Technology, Office of Safety, RDT

Topics: research, safety, design, pedestrian & bicycle safety, visibility and retroreflectivity, older road user
Keywords: research, safety, highway design, highway operations, driver age, driver performance, human factors, vision, attention, perception, cognition, memory, physical ability, risk perception, hazard perception.
TRT Terms: Roads--United States--Design and construction, Roads--Visibility--United States, Roads--United States--Safety measures, Traffic signs and signals--United States, Older automobile drivers--United States--Safety measures, Pedestrians--United States--Safety measures, Pedestrian facilities design--United States, Aged drivers, Highway design, Human factors
Scheduled Update: Archive - No Update needed

This page last modified on 06/29/2016