Volume 06: A Guide for Addressing Run-Off-Road Collisions

39 Percent of Fatal Crashes Involve Leaving the Roadway

Run-Off-Road (ROR) crashes involve vehicles that leave the travel lane and encroach onto the shoulder and beyond and hit one or more objects.  Nearly 4 of every 10 fatal motor vehicle crashes—well over 14,000 a year—involve a single vehicle leaving the roadway. There are more than twice as many ROR fatal crashes on rural roads than on urban roads. Some 42 percent of ROR fatal crashes occur on curves (50 percent in rural areas). And the life-threatening events most likely to occur are rollovers (42 percent) and collisions with trees (25 percent).

Objectives

• Keep vehicles from encroaching on the roadside.
• Minimize the likelihood of crashing into an object or overturning if the vehicle travel   beyond the shoulder of the road.
• Reduce the severity of crashes.

Download this guide: http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_500v6.pdf