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Researcher articles

Saving Lives

March 1, 2008

Living to tell about it — there’s nothing our researchers take more seriously

Nationally, in 2006, there were 5,973,000 police-reported motor vehicle crashes, which killed a total of 42,642 people — 3,475 right here in Texas.

Here are some sobering national numbers from 2006:

  • 13,470 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes, nearly 32 percent of all crash-related deaths;
  • 61,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic crashes; 4,784 pedestrians were killed — down 12 percent from a decade prior; and
  • 4,810 motorcyclists were killed — a 5 percent jump in crash fatalities over 2005.

As startling as these statistics are, the numbers were much more alarming 60 years ago. In fact, thanks to the construction of the interstate highway system, the fatality rate on those roads is 60 percent lower than that of the rest of the roadway system. On the safety-research front, projects sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and conducted at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) have produced numerous life-saving discoveries, such as the “breakaway” sign concept and specifications for improved safety of roadside structures. Through performance of countless crash tests over the last 50 years, Texas has led the way to implementation of safer signs, light and utility poles, medians, mailboxes and guardrails all across the nation.

A low-deflection life saver

Every day portable concrete traffic barriers are saving lives. They’re trucked to construction locations and set up quickly, and before long traffic is flowing in temporary lanes. Oncoming cars are kept safely apart and in their lane of travel.

Depending on the segment length used, the low-deflection precast concrete barrier developed and tested at TTI has only 18 to 24 inches of lateral movement during a design impact, putting it in a class by itself. In full-scale crash testing performed at TTI by the Roadside Safety Program, the low-deflection precast barrier proved exceptional at safely shrugging off the impact of a 4,409-pound pickup truck smashing into it at more than 60 miles per hour and 25 degrees. The barrier successfully contained the pickup, redirected it and kept it upright, all necessary criteria when evaluating safety and impact performance.

“Safety innovations like the low- deflection barrier make work zones safer for both motorists and construction personnel. Less deflection in an impact translates to more operating space for cars and workers. Ease of installation, inspection and repair reduces exposure of workers and minimizes traffic delays. If a car goes out of control while traveling through a work zone, this barrier is designed to save the lives of both the motorists and any workers in the area behind the barrier. That’s why we do this kind of work.”
Roger Bligh, TTI Research Engineer

Filed Under: Researcher articles

HEART Crash Cushion wins award

March 1, 2007

Four men, two holding awards

TTI’s Dean Alberson and Lance Bullard (center) were honored for their development of the Heart Crash Cushion. Also pictured are (L) Vice Chancellor for Technology Commercialization Guy Diedrich and (R) Texas A&M University System Chancellor Mike McKinney.

The HEART Crash Cushion is much easier to say than the Hybrid Energy Absorbing Reusable Terminal. But that’s what it is. The crash cushion, developed by Texas A&M Transportation Institute researchers Dean Alberson and Lance Bullard, is designed to be reusable after most crashes and therefore, a money saving product for taxpayers.

Alberson and Bullard were honored February 23, 2007 by the Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization during its 2007 Patent and Innovation Awards Luncheon. In all, 21 Texas A&M researchers were recognized for their ideas.

“It was a five-year project to get the HEART Crash Cushion developed, tested and patented,” Alberson said. “We came up with the idea on a notion that we could improve what was on the road at the time.”

Alberson says the Federal Highway Administration has given its acceptance to the crash cushion.

See the full story in the March 2007 issue of the Texas Transportation Researcher. (PDF)

Filed Under: Researcher articles

Bligh Team Wins Award at 2007 Transportation Research Board meetings

March 1, 2007

Four men, two holding awards

(L-R) Neil Pedersen, Maryland State Highway Administration and Chair of the TRB Technical Activities Council; TTI Research Engineer Roger Bligh; TTI Assistant Agency Director Dean Alberson; TRB Executive Director Robert Skinner. (Photo courtesy of Cable Risdon, TRB)

Four TTI coauthors were recipients of the K.B. Woods Award for their paper entitled “Low-Deflection Portable Concrete Barrier.” The award was presented January 22.

Roger Bligh, Nauman Mansoor Sheikh, Dean Alberson and Akram Abu-Odeh were recognized for best paper in the area of design and construction of transportation facilities. The paper describes a new barrier system developed for use in a highway work zone.

Bligh was also the recipient of last year’s K.B. Woods Award.

See the full story in the March 2007 issue of the Texas Transportation Researcher. (PDF)

Filed Under: Researcher articles

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