Evaluating the Relationship Between the Driver and the Roadway to Address Rural Intersection Safety by Using SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study Data and the Roadway Information Database

Oneyear, Nicole; Hallmark, Shauna; Goswamy, Amrita; Thapa, Raju; Basulto-Elias, Guillermo · 2024 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety Research and Development

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Summary

This study addresses the significant safety problem of crashes at rural intersections, which account for 30 percent of all rural crashes and 6 percent of fatal crashes. The research was motivated by the limitations of traditional crash data, which often fail to capture the driver behaviors and roadway interactions leading up to an incident. Specifically, the study sought to understand how drivers react at high-speed rural intersections, focusing on the interplay between roadway design, driver behavior, environmental factors, and vehicle characteristics. The overarching goal was to generate evidence-based insights to improve intersection design, traffic control device selection, and safety countermeasures. The researchers utilized data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2), combining the Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) database with the Roadway Information Database (RID). This approach allowed for the analysis of real-world driving behavior using video, vehicle kinematics, driver kinematics, and detailed roadway data. The study focused on three specific types of rural intersections: two-way stop-controlled, T-intersections, and all-way stop-controlled intersections. The experimental design involved four primary analyses: identifying the point at which drivers reacted to intersections, examining stopping behaviors at each intersection type, analyzing driver behavior surrounding safety-critical events, and evaluating the influence of various factors such as upstream vehicle speeds, the presence of opposing traffic, and specific countermeasures like rumble strips, beacons, and advance warning signs. The findings revealed that multiple factors significantly influence driver behavior at rural intersections. The models demonstrated that the type of movement through the intersection, the presence of vehicles on opposing or major approaches, the existence of specific safety countermeasures, and vehicle speeds upstream of the intersection were key determinants of driver reaction and stopping behavior. The study successfully identified how these variables interact to affect safety outcomes, providing a detailed understanding of the conditions under which drivers are more or less likely to stop appropriately or react safely. For instance, the presence of certain countermeasures and specific roadway geometries were shown to alter driver deceleration patterns and reaction points. The significance of this research lies in its ability to provide actionable data for roadway designers, safety professionals, and policymakers. By moving beyond post-crash analysis to observe actual driver behavior in naturalistic settings, the study offers a more comprehensive understanding of rural intersection safety. The results support the development of better intersection designs, more informed selection of traffic control devices, and the implementation of effective countermeasures. Ultimately, this work contributes to targeted policy decisions aimed at reducing the high rate of crashes and fatalities associated with rural intersections, addressing a critical gap in transportation safety knowledge.

Key finding

Driver behavior at rural intersections is significantly influenced by the type of movement, presence of opposing traffic, specific countermeasures, and upstream vehicle speeds.

Methodology

naturalistic

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• rail grade crossings
• driver vru interaction
• roadway lighting effects
• perceptual countermeasures
• urban rural setting

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: behavioral performance data, crash risk outcomes
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource