IMPROVING ROADSIDE SAFETY BY COMPUTER SIMULATION

The overall level of safety provided along highways in this country has improved greatly over the past several decades. The clearest demonstration of this improvement in roadside safety is the continuing drop in fatality rates. The "clear zone" concept is perhaps the most important contributor to roadside safety design and the reduction in fatalities. The "clear zone" concept means that roadside hazards are removed or relocated further from the traveled way whenever and wherever possible. When hazards can not be removed or relocated, breakaway devices or protective safety features, such as traffic barriers and crash cushions, have been utilized to minimize the danger to motorists. There are still problems to be solved in the continuing effort to improve roadside safety. Computer simulation of vehicular impacts, such as DYNA3D, is a practical alternative to full-scale crash testing for the large array of safety performance evaluations still needed.