Moderator:  

Session Description 
Head-on crashes are violent events that result in thousands of fatalities around the world each year. In the United States, head-on crashes, account for over 5,000 fatalities which is approximately 14% of all fatalities between 2018 and 2020. These crashes typically occur on high speed, undivided rural roads.

In Australia, around 17% of fatalities are head-on collisions and approximately two thirds of all road deaths occur in regional and remote areas.

With the Safe System Approach, this is unacceptable and since we know that humans make mistakes and our bodies are vulnerable when subjected to the forces of a head-on crash, action is needed to provide more than a pavement marking to separate vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.

There are countermeasures that have been proven to reduce these crashes. These countermeasures include treatments like centerline markings and rumble strips that help drivers stay in their lane, the SafetyEdgeSM and wide buffer areas to reduce the potential for a crash if they do leave the lane and barriers to minimize the severity of crashes that do occur. Effective countermeasures on some rural roads of Australia have included installation of median wire-rope barriers but where costs are prohibitive, speed limits have been reduced to survivable Safe System impact speeds. These countermeasures can be deployed proactively and in combination to provide redundancy.

This workshop will examine strategies and evidence base of their effectiveness for deploying these countermeasures to provide for a safer system. ​​​​