Utility Poles

Type of Problem Being Addressed

General Description of the Problem

Utility poles are one of the more substantial objects that are intentionally placed on roadsides. “The U.S. has over 88 million utility poles on highway rights-of-way.”¹ They are substantial both in sheer number and in structural strength. The only object type more frequently struck in fatal fixed-object crashes is trees.² Because of the structural strength and small impact area of utility poles, these crashes tend to be severe.

In 2002, there were 1,008 fatal crashes³ associated with utility poles reported in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS; see http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/). Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) General Estimates System (GES) does not report utility pole crashes separately, the data for the first harmful event in 1999 show that fatal crashes were only about 1 percent of all pole crashes. However, about 40 percent of pole crashes involve some type of injury. The data also show that about 25 percent of pole crashes occur in adverse weather conditions, and only about half occur in full daylight, while another 25 percent occur under lighted conditions at night.

EXHIBIT III-1
Distribution of Maximum Severity for Pole Crashes

¹“Safer Roadsides Through Better Utility Pole Placement, Protection, Construction,” Texas Transportation Researcher, Volume 35, Number 1 (1999).
²American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Roadside Design Guide. Washington, D.C. January 1996.
³This number was obtained assuming that the collision with the utility pole was the first harmful event in the fatal crash.