09/04/2015 FundamentalsofTransportation/SightDistanceWikibooks,openbooksforanopenworld

FundamentalsofTransportation/SightDistance
SightDistanceisalengthofroadsurfacewhichaparticulardrivercanseewithanacceptablelevelof
clarity.Sightdistanceplaysanimportantroleingeometrichighwaydesignbecauseitestablishesan
acceptabledesignspeed,basedonadriver'sabilitytovisuallyidentifyandstopforaparticular,unforeseen
roadwayhazardorpassaslowervehiclewithoutbeinginconflictwithopposingtraffic.Asvelocitiesona
roadwayareincreased,thedesignmustbecateredtoallowingadditionalviewingdistancestoallowfor
adequatetimetostop.Thetwotypesofsightdistanceare(1)stoppingsightdistanceand(2)passingsight
distance.

Contents
1Derivations
1.1StoppingSightDistance
1.1.1ANoteonSignConventions
1.2PassingSightDistance
2Demonstrations
3Examples
3.1Example1:StoppingDistance
3.2Example2:CoefficientofFriction
3.3Example3:Grade
3.4Example4:AccidentReconstruction
3.5Example5:ComputeStoppingSightDistance
4ThoughtQuestion
5SampleProblem
6AdditionalQuestions
7Variables
8KeyTerms
9StandardsandPractices

Derivations
StoppingSightDistance

StoppingSightDistance(SSD)istheviewabledistancerequiredforadrivertoseesothatheorshecan
makeacompletestopintheeventofanunforeseenhazard.SSDismadeupoftwocomponents:(1)
BrakingDistanceand(2)PerceptionReactionTime.

Forhighwaydesign,analysisofbrakingissimplifiedbyassumingthatdecelerationiscausedbythe
resistingforceoffrictionagainstskiddingtires.Thisisapplicabletobothanuphilloradownhillsituation.
Avehiclecanbemodeledasanobjectwithmass slidingonasurfaceinclinedatangle .

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Whiletheforceofgravitypullsthevehicledown,theforceof
frictionresiststhatmovement.Theforcesactingthisvehiclecanbe
simplifiedto:

where

=objectsweight,
=coefficientoffriction. Forcesactingonavehiclethatis
braking
UsingNewtonssecondlawwecanconcludethenthatthe
acceleration( )oftheobjectis

Usingourbasicequationstosolveforbrakingdistance( )intermsofinitialspeed( )andendingspeed(

)gives

andsubstitutingfortheaccelerationyields

Foranglescommonlyencounteredonroads,
and ,
where iscalledtheroadsgrade.Thisgives

Usingsimplythebrakingformulaassumesthat
adriverreactsinstantaneouslytoahazard.
However,thereisaninherentdelaybetweenthe
timeadriveridentifiesahazardandwhenheor
shementallydeterminesanappropriate
reaction.Thisamountoftimeiscalled AmpleStoppingSightDistance
perceptionreactiontime.Foravehiclein
motion,thisinherentdelaytranslatestoadistancecoveredinthemeanwhile.Thisextradistancemustbe
accountedfor.

Foravehicletravelingataconstantrate,distance coveredbyaspecificvelocity andacertain

perceptionreactiontime canbecomputedusingsimpledynamics:
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Finally,combiningthesetwoelementstogetherandincorporatingunitconversion,theAASHTOstopping
sightdistanceformulaisproduced.Theunitconversionsconverttheproblemtometric,with in
kilometersperhourand inmeters.

ANoteonSignConventions

Wesaid

Use: ifgoingdownhilland ifgoinguphill,whereGistheabsolutevalueofthegrade

PassingSightDistance

PassingSightDistance(PSD)istheminimumsightdistancethatisrequiredonahighway,generallyatwo
lane,twodirectionalone,thatwillallowadrivertopassanothervehiclewithoutcollidingwithavehiclein
theopposinglane.Thisdistancealsoallowsthedrivertoabortthepassingmaneuverifdesired.AASHTO
definesPSDashavingthreemaindistancecomponents:(1)Distancetraveledduringperceptionreaction
timeandacclerationintotheopposinglane,(2)Distancerequiredtopassintheopposinglane,(3)Distance
necessarytocleartheslowervehicle.

Thefirstdistancecomponent isdefinedas:

where

=timeforinitialmaneuver,
=acceleration(km/h/sec),
=averagespeedofpassingvehicle(km/hr),
=differenceinspeedsofpassingandimpedervehicles(km/hr).

Theseconddistancecomponent isdefinedas:

where

=timepassingvehicleistravelinginopposinglane,
=averagespeedofpassingvehicle(km/hr).

Thethirddistancecomponent ismoreofaruleofthumbthanacalculation.Lengthstocompletethis
maneuvervarybetween30and90meters.
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Withthesevalues,thetotalpassingsightdistance(PSD)canbecalculatedbysimplytakingthesummation
ofallthreedistances.

Demonstrations
GIFanimation:StoppingSightDistanceonFlatSurface(contributedbyOregonStateUniversity
facultyandstudents)(http://street.umn.edu/flash_stop_flat.html)
GIFanimation:StoppingSightDistanceonDownhillGrade(contributedbyOregonStateUniversity
facultyandstudents)(http://street.umn.edu/flash_downhill.html)
Flashanimation:BicycleCrashType(contributedbyOregonStateUniversityfacultyandstudents)
(http://www.street.umn.edu/flash_bike.html)

Examples
Example1:StoppingDistance

Problem:

Avehicleinitiallytravelingat88km/hskidstoastopona3%downgrade,wherethe
pavementsurfaceprovidesacoefficientoffrictionequalto0.3.Howfardoesthevehicle
travelbeforecomingtoastop?

Solution:

Example2:CoefficientofFriction

Problem:

Avehicleinitiallytravelingat150km/hrskidstoastopona3%downgrade,taking200m
todoso.Whatisthecoefficientoffrictiononthissurface?

Solution:

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Example3:Grade

Problem:

Whatshouldthegradebeforthepreviousexampleifthecoefficientoffrictionis0.40?

Solution:

Thustheroadneedstobea4percentuphillgradeifthevehiclesaregoingthatspeedonthatsurface
andcanstopthatquickly.

Example4:AccidentReconstruction

Problem:

Youareshownanaccidentscenewithavehicleandalightpole.Thevehiclewasestimated
tohitthelightpoleat50km/hr.Theskidmarksaremeasuredtobe210,205,190,and195
meters.Atrialrunthatisconductedtohelpmeasurethecoefficientoffrictionrevealsthatacar
travelingat60km/hrcanstopin100metersunderconditionspresentatthetimeoftheaccident.How
fastwasthevehicletravelingtobeginwith?

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Solution:

First,AveragetheSkidMarks.

Estimatethecoefficientoffriction.

Third,estimatetheunknownvelocity

Example5:ComputeStoppingSightDistance

Problem:

DeterminetheStoppingSightDistancefromExample4,assuminganAASHTO
recommendedperceptionreactiontimeof2.5seconds.

Solution:

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ThoughtQuestion
Problem

Ifthecoefficientoffrictionis0(zero)andthegradeis0,howlongdoesittakeamovingvehicletostop?

Solution

Forever

Note,thedesignconditionsforroadsarewet,i.e.alowercoefficientoffriction

SampleProblem
Problem(Solution)

AdditionalQuestions
Homework
AdditionalQuestions

Variables
stopping(sight)distance(m)
perceptionreactiondistance(m)
brakingdistance(m)
passingdistance(m)
initialspeed(km/h)
perception/reactiontime(seconds)
AASHTOstoppingfrictioncoefficient(dimensionless)
roadwaygrade(dimensionless)

KeyTerms
SSD:StoppingSightDistance

PSD:PassingSightDistance

PRT:PerceptionReactionTime

StandardsandPractices
AASHTORecommendedFrictionCoefficients
(km/hr) CoefficientofSkiddingFriction(f)

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30 0.40
40 0.38
50 0.35
60 0.33
70 0.31
80 0.30
90 0.30
100 0.29
110 0.28
120 0.28

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