TRAFFIC SAFETY / ROAD SAFETY

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
a term used to embody the activities undertaken by a highway transportation agency to
improve roadway system safety.

Two Distinct Types
utilizes traditional traffic engineering tools or simple devices
relies more on advanced technology through the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

TRAFFIC REGULATIONS

Fundamental Requirements for Traffic Regulation
a. Regulations should be rational.
b. Regulations should be developed progressively.
c. Regulations alone are not enough.

Three Elements of the Road System
Road / Environment
Human / Driver
Vehicle

ROAD HIERARCHY
Road network is defined as a hierarchy in terms of road types and according to the major
functions the roads will serve.

EXPRESSWAYS
The elements to consider when planning Expressways are:
No frontage access;
Development set well back from the highway;
Grade separated intersections for extremely high flows and other intersecting expressways;
Number of intersections to be minimized and where necessary or for emergency purposes,
parking/stopping to be provided clear of the main carriageway.

NATIONAL ROADS
Elements to consider when planning National Roads are:
Limited frontage access
Development set well back from the highway;
All access to premises provided via provincial roads;
Number of intersections to be minimized;
Suitable at-grade channelized intersections for minor flows and other elements
No roadside vendors.

PROVINCIAL ROAD
Elements to consider when planning National Roads are:
Limited frontage access. In exceptional circumstances, large individual
developments may have direct access when a high level intersection is provided;
Development set back from the highway;
Most development to be given access via intersections with local distributor roads;
All intersections will normally be at-grade;
Turning traffic should be separated out from the through traffic.
Separated pedestrians/bikeways remote from the carriageway;
Pedestrian crossing points should be clearly defined and controlled;
Parking on the road should not be permitted;
Bus stops and other loading areas (only permitted in exceptional
circumstances) should be in separate well designed lay bys;
Regular stopping places for paratransit vehicles should be identified and safe stopping places
established;
No roadside vendors.

CITY / MUNICIPAL ROADS

City Roads these roads / streets within the urban area of the city to be designated as such by
the Sangguniang Panglungsod.
Municipal Roads these roads / streets within the poblacion area of a municipality to be
designated as such by the Sangguniang Bayan.

Main points to consider:
The road is only for local traffic; through traffic is adequately accommodated on an alternative
more direct main road;
Where possible, an industrial traffic route should not pass through a residential area;
Vehicle speeds should be kept low so long straight roads should be avoided;
Parking is allowed, but alternative off-road provision should be made if possible;
Non-motorized traffic is of equal importance to motor traffic and separate route should be
provided if possible;
Where non motorized traffic needs to use a local distributor it should be separated from
motorized traffic;
The road width can be varied to provide for parking or to give emphasis to crossing points
depending upon traffic flows;
Bus stops and other loading areas (only permitted in exceptional circumstances) should be in
separate well designed lay bys;
Through-movements should be made awkward and inconvenient to discourage them;
No roadside vendors.

BARANGAY ROADS

Important elements to consider for barangay roads are:
Vehicle flows to be kept to a minimum;
All through traffic eliminated;
Vehicle speeds to be kept low by careful and deliberate inclusion of obstructions to create
meandering alignments;
Access roads kept short where possible;
Cul-de-sac and loop roads to be used wherever possible to deter through traffic;
IIntersections to be three rather than four leg and kept compact to aid pedestrian movement;
Pedestrian and vehicles can share space;
Carriageway width can be reduced to emphasize pedestrian priority;

Entrance/exit points of access streets should be clearly identified by threshold treatments
Parking and stopping within the streets is permitted although adequate provision should be
provided within individual properties or separate garage areas;
Use of fully mountable curbs for vehicles may enable reduced road width and reduced standard
alignments to be used by emergency and service vehicles, or for occasional parking; and,
Firepaths (emergency accesses for the engines) can be kept clear by using diagonal closures to
eliminate parking spaces or by ensuring other nearby owners gain access by the same route so
that they keep them clear.












ROAD DESIGN PARAMETERS
Design Speed
Speed Implications
Current Speed Limit

Speed Management
Design Speed

Factors need to be considered:
Function of the road.
Anticipated operating speed.
Anticipated speed limit.
Economics


Current Speed Limits
High Risk Pedestrian Areas 40 kph
Low risk pedestrian areas 60 kph
80 kph
100 kph



PUBLIC TRANSPORT - refers to public utility jeepneys, buses and taxis.
















VULNERABLE ROAD USERS
Pedestrians
People with disabilities
Non-motorized vehicles
Motorcycles




















PARKING
Expressways. Generally, parking is not appropriate along expressways and these roads need to have
signs that inform drivers of the parking restriction.
National Roads. Parking should not be permitted along national roads.
Local Roads. Parking bans are generally not appropriate, however, the times and duration of parking
may need to be indicated on signs.

Parallel parking 6m on both approach and exit sides
Angle parking 12m on approach side, 9m on exit side











LIGHTING
The introduction of adequate street lighting can help reduce nighttime accidents and is an
established accident prevention measure in urban areas.

Important aspects to consider:
Evenness and type of illumination is important
Light poles should be sited in positions where they will not be a danger to a vehicle leaving the
road
Signs and road markings should be visible at night.
Lighting is most important at key locations
Consideration should be given to the use of high pressure sodium or metal halide lighting.

INTERSECTIONS
Types of intersections that generally exist on the road network are:
Unflared and unchannelized intersections (without widening or traffic islands);
Flared and unchannelized intersections (with widening but without traffic islands);
Channelized intersections (traffic islands to guide traffic).


Control of Conflicts
PRINCIPLES:
Minimizing the number of conflict points;
Minimizing the area of conflict;
Separating points of conflict;
Giving preference to major movements; and
Minimizing relative speed of conflicting movements
Control of Speed
The speed of vehicles through an intersection depends on:
Alignment;
Road environment;
Traffic volume and composition; and
Traffic control devices.

ROAD SIGNS
A standardized road traffic system is essential to ensure that drivers acquire the information
necessary to enable them to comply with road regulations and to navigate their way around the road
system in a safe and efficient manner.

Authority for Installation
Traffic signs shall be installed only upon approval of the Secretary of the DPWH or his delegated
authority, having the necessary jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic.

Classification of Signs
Regulatory Signs (Type R);
Warning Signs (Type W);
Guide Signs or Informative Sign (Type G);
Signs for Expressways (Type GE);
Signs for Special Purposes (Type S); and,
Hazard Markers (Type HM).
SHAPE
Standard sign shapes are:
The octagon is reserved exclusively for the STOP sign;
The equilateral triangle, with one point vertically downward is reserved for the GIVE WAY Sign;
The circle symbol is mainly used for regulatory signs;
The circle symbol may sometimes be mounted on a rectangular base either for easy recognition
or for additional information;
The equilateral triangle with one point vertically upward is used for warning signs;
The rectangle, usually with long axis horizontal is used for directional signs, service signs, road
work signs, signs for special purposes, and supplementary plates for warning signs;
The rectangle, usually with long axis vertical is generally used for facility information signs,
instruction signs, guide signs, and destinations of point of interest; and,
The pentagon, with point up is used only for pedestrian and school crossing sign.
COLOR
Standard sign colors are:
Red is used as a background for STOP signs, as border color on GIVE WAY signs, warning signs
and prohibitive signs in the regulatory type.
Black is used as legend color for signs having white, yellow, orange, fluorescent orange,
fluorescent yellow green background and as chevron for hazard markers.
Yellow is used as background color for roadwork signs.
White is the background color for most signs and legends for some colored background.
Fluorescent yellow green is used as background color for signs related to pedestrian movement,
school zones, and road work hazard markers to give additional emphasis and guidance to vehicle
operators.
Fluorescent orange is used as background color for roadwork signs whose legends relate to
personnel working.
Green is used as background color for direction signs.
Blue is used as background color for service signs.
Brown is reserved as background color for all tourist facility directional and information signs.
Lateral Placement and Height
Rural Area
Lateral Placement: sign should be at least 600mm the clearance should not be less than 2m nor more
than 5m
Height: The height of the sign should normally be between 1m and 1.5m above the nearest edge of
traveled way. For fingerboards and intersection direction signs, the height should be increased to 2m.
Urban Areas
Lateral placement: On curbed roads, signs should be located back from the face of the curb not less than
300mm nor more than 1m. Where mountable or semi-mountable curbs are used e.g., on traffic islands,
the minimum clearance should be 500mm.
Height: On curbed roads, the signs should be set at a minimum of 2m above the top of the curb to
prevent obstruction to pedestrians.
Regulatory Signs (Type R) - signs that inform road users of traffic laws and regulations which, if
disregarded, will constitute an offense.
SIGN SIZES
Size A for urban low speed roads;
Size B for rural roads with speed limits between 60 and 70kph;
Size C for high speed rural highways multi-lane urban roads
Size D for Expressways.
1.a Priority Signs
STOP - intended to ensure that drivers have sufficient time in which to assess the degree of hazard
prevailing before entering an intersection.
GIVE WAY - used for the control of traffic at locations such as channelized intersections, median
openings on divided roads, and at roundabout

DIRECTION TO BE FOLLOWED
a) Disc Type




b) Plate Type





1.b Direction Signs (R2)
NO ENTRY FOR ALL VEHICLES






NO ENTRY FOR SPECIFIC
TYPE OF ROAD USERS


1.d Warning Signs
Warning sign classifications:
Horizontal Alignment Signs
Intersection and Junction Signs
Advance Warning of Traffic Control Device Signs
Road Width Signs
Road Obstacle Signs
Pedestrian and School Signs
Railway Level Crossing
Supplementary Signs
Other Warning Signs
SHARP TURN

REVERSE TURN

CURVE

REVERSE CURVE


WINDING ROAD

HAIRPIN BEND

CROSS ROAD

ROUNDABOUT (ROTONDA)

ADVANCE WARNING OF TRAFFIC
CONTROL DEVICE SIGN

SIGNALS AHEAD

NARROW BRIDGE

DIVIDED ROAD

END OF DIVIDED ROAD

FALLING ROCKS




SLIPPERY

PEDESTRIAN AND SCHOOL SIGNS

Pedestrians and Slow Down Pedestrian Ahead

Children

NO PARKING SIGNS


1.e Guide Signs
Four Categories:
Those installed in advance of the intersection.
Those installed at the intersection.
Those on departure from the intersection.
Those installed on expressways.
COLOR
Black legend on white background: Information signs, street name signs and kilometer posts;
White legend on standard green or blue background: Advance direction signs, intersection and
special direction signs, and reassurance direction signs, including signs giving directions to
expressways from the adjacent road and street system;
White legend on blue background: Signs indicating roadside facilities, services and legends used.
The size adopted will depend on the required letter size, the number of words in the legend,
symbols used and the general arrangement;
White legend on brown background: Tourists interests;
Methods of Supportive Overheads
Diagrammatic Signs























Diagrammatic Signs

Lettering and Legend






Service Signs

1.f Signs on Expressways
Expressway Approach Signs

Toll Charges (Advance Information)

Lane Direction Signs