MRIGlobal Completes Transportation Safety Study Using Naturalistic Driving Study Data

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MRIGlobal today announced that results of its offset left-turn lane study using data from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2's (SHRP 2) Naturalistic Driving Study are now available.  

The research shows that positive offset left-turn lanes can make left turns safer by reducing the chance that an opposing left-turning vehicle will block the view of oncoming traffic. Highway agencies have used this design in recent years, but have not had statistical data to determine the optimal design. MRIGlobal's research provides a better understanding of the degree of offset required to provide a safety benefit.

MRIGlobal's research was based on the largest and most comprehensive Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) ever undertaken. The Study recruited more than 3,100 drivers, aged 16 to 80, in six states: Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Volunteers' vehicles were outfitted with multiple video cameras and sensors, which recorded drivers' behavior in every trip for up to two years. The data was gathered from 2010 through early 2014.

The video cameras and sensors recorded vehicle speed, acceleration, and braking; vehicle controls; lane position; forward radar; video views to the front and rear of the vehicle and on the driver's face and hands. The Study gathered data from 33 million vehicle-miles driven.

MRIGlobal was one of the first three organizations granted access to the rich data collected in the Study. With the expertise gained from using the Naturalistic Driving Study, and related databases, MRIGlobal has given presentations at two symposiums and a webinar, all with international audiences, on the results of this particular research project and the use of the data and analytic techniques for future users of the Study data.

MRIGlobal's report was published by the Transportation Research Board, which is a division of the National Research Council, a private, nonprofit institution administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

MRIGlobal's Transportation Research Center has more than 45 years of expertise in traffic engineering, geometric design, and highway safety. MRIGlobal's traffic engineers and statisticians have been responsible for key portions of America's geometric design and traffic safety policies and guidelines.

For more information, visit www.mriglobal.org.

SOURCE MRIGlobal

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