Abstract
Road markings provide drivers with the information necessary for their comfortable and safe journey. To achieve that, they must be visible in all driving conditions, which means that they have to be renewed and maintained in a timely manner. This research aims to develop a model for predicting the service life of paint, thermoplastic and agglomerate cold plastic road markings. The research comprised 5218.00 km (115 roads) of solvent-borne paint road markings, 579.00 km (30 roads) of thermoplastic and 4979.00 km (30 roads) of agglomerate cold plastic road markings. The retroreflectivity of road markings was measured two times (after renewal and after winter) using the dynamic measuring method. Service life prediction model was developed for each material based on factors such as initial retroreflectivity, road marking age and position, annual average daily traffic and winter maintenance activity of the road. Developed models were tested using a new data set, and all three models showed satisfactory accuracy. The application of the model enables road authorities to optimise road-marking maintenance activities, while at the same time, ensuring the level of visibility required by drivers.
Highlights
Road traffic accidents are a significant social problem, and it is estimated that, depending on the country, their costs amount from 1% up to 3% of the gross domestic product (World Health Organization, 2017)
The main guidelines of these action plans are aimed at improving all the elements that can contribute to increasing road safety, including the traffic infrastructure in which road markings are an important element as part of traffic control plan
The results showed that every winter maintenance activity of the road reduces the retroreflectivity of road markings by 3.22 mcd/lx/m2, which altogether reduces road marking service life for more than a month
Summary
Road traffic accidents are a significant social problem, and it is estimated that, depending on the country, their costs amount from 1% up to 3% of the gross domestic product (World Health Organization, 2017). Road markings form the road surface by using and combining lines, signs and symbols and provide information concerning visual guidance to road users (Babić, Ščukanec, & Babić, 2016) Since their first documented use along the Trenton River Road in Michigan in 1911, road markings have become a conventional element of traffic infrastructure (Industrial Commercial Striping, 2015). As they are positioned in the drivers central field of vision, they are an important element contributing to road safety. Previous research suggests that road markings to a certain extent affect the driver behaviour in terms of changing the lateral position of the vehicle and driving speed, providing them with a better visual guidance along the entire road section (Davidse, van Driel, & Goldenbeld, 2004; Retting & Farmer, 1998; Shinar, Rockwell, & Malecki,1980)
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