Sight Distance
Sight Distance
• Sight distance is defined as the distance,
measured along the carriageway, over which
visibility occurs between a driver and an object,
single vehicle sight distance or between two
drivers at specific heights above the
carriageway in their lane of travel.
Sight Distance
Stopping Sight Distance
• The available sight distance on a roadway should
be sufficiently long to enable a vehicle traveling
at or near the design speed to stop before
reaching a stationary object in its path.
• The provision of stopping sight distance is a
mandatory design condition for all roads and
intersections in the Normal Design Domain.
Designers should provide stopping sight distance
for both cars and trucks for all roads in daytime
conditions.
Stopping Sight Distance
Stopping sight distance is the sum of two distances:
1. the distance traversed by the vehicle from the
instant the driver sights an object necessitating
a stop to the instant the brakes are applied
2. the distance needed to stop the vehicle from
the instant brake application begins.
These are referred to as brake reaction distance
and braking distance, respectively
Reaction Time/ PIEV Time
Definition: Time interval between seeing, hearing or feeling
the existence of an object or hazard on or along the
roadway and the instant of starting to do something in
response.
PIEV
P- Perception
Sees or hears situation (sees deer)
I- Identification or intellection (understanding the event)
Identify situation (realizes deer is in road)
E- Emotion or Judgment (decision making process)
Decides on course of action (swerve, stop, change lanes,
etc)
V- Volition or Reaction (execution of decision)
Acts (time to start events in motion but not actually do action)
• Foot begins to hit brake, not actual deceleration
Studies on Perception/Reaction Time
• 321 drivers (Johansson and Rumar): drivers expected
to use brakes
– Median: 0.66 sec
– 90th percentile: 1.5 sec
• Unexpected, response time increased by ~ 1 sec
• Some drivers took over 3.5 seconds to respond even
under simple test condition
G. Johansson and K. Rumar. Drivers Brake Reaction Times. Human Factors, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1971, pp. 23-27.
Brake Reaction Time
• A brake reaction time of 2.5 s is considered
adequate for conditions that are more complex
than the simple conditions used in laboratory
and road tests, but it is not adequate for the
most complex conditions encountered in actual
driving.
Criteria for SD Measurement
Deceleration rate: AASHTO: 11.2 ft/s2 (3.4 m/s2)
Deceleration is within capability of drivers to stay
within their lane and control the vehicle when
braking on wet surfaces and is comfortable for most
drivers
• AASHTO represents friction as a function of the
roadway, tires, etc
• Can use when deceleration is known (usually not)
Braking Distance
3.4 m/s2 [11.2 ft/s2] is recommended as the deceleration threshold
for determining stopping sight distance
Effect of Grade on Braking Distance
In this equation, G is the rise in elevation divided by the distance
of the run and the percent of grade divided by 100, and the
other terms are as previously stated.
Stopping Sight Distance
Stopping Sight Distance =Brake Reaction Distance + Braking Distance
Example
Will truck strike
3 tree?
%
u=90 km/h;
170
m
Compute using equation and compare the results as provided in Table 3.2
HW
A driver travelling at 75 km/h sees a blocked road ahead.
How many meters will the vehicle travel between the time
the driver notices the sign and the time the brakes are
applied ? Determine the braking distance as well.
Consider, the road is in level ground.
Table 3.1 Stopping Sight Distance on Level Roadways
Table 3-2. Stopping Sight Distance on Grades
Stopping Sight Distance
• Stopping sight distances exceeding those shown in
Table 3-1 should be used as the basis for design
wherever practical.
• Use of longer stopping sight distances increases
the margin for error for all drivers and, in
particular, for those who operate at or near the
design speed during wet pavement conditions.
• New pavements should have initially, and should
retain, friction coefficients consistent with the
deceleration rates used to develop Table 3-1.
Vertical Curve
• G1 = initial roadway grade in percent or ft/ft (this grade is also
referred to as the initial tangent gradePVC = point of the
vertical curve (the initial point of the curve),
• PVI = point of vertical intersection (intersection of initial and
final grades), and
• G2 = final roadway (tangent) grade in percent or ft/ft,
• PVT = point of vertical tangent, which is the final point of the
vertical curve (the point where the curve returns to the final
grade or, equivalently, the final tangent).
• A = absolute value of the difference in grades (initial minus
final, usually expressed in percent),
• L = length of the curve in stations or ft measured in a
constant-elevation horizontal plane.
SSD parameters used in design of crest vertical curves
Example
A crest vertical curve is to be designed to join +3% grade with a
-2.5% grade at a section of a two-lane highway. Determine the
minimum length of the curve if the speed of the highway is 110
km/h and S<L
L = AS^2/658 = , A= [3-(-2.5)]
Problem
A crest vertical curve with a 250-meter length is to be
designed to join a +2.0% grade with a -1.5% grade at
a section of a two-lane highway. Determine the
maximum safe speed.
Example
A highway is being designed to AASHTO guidelines with
a 100 km/h design speed, and at one section, an
equal-tangent vertical curve must be designed to
connect grades of +1.0% and 2.0%. Determine the
minimum length of curve necessary to meet SSD
requirements.
• SOLUTION
• If we ignore the effect of grades (G = 0), the SSD can
be read directly from equation/Table
• In this case, the SSD corresponding to a speed of
100km/h -----.
• If we assume that L > SSD (an assumption that is
typically made),
• If L> SSD, the assumption is correct.
Example
An existing vertical curve on a highway joins a
4.4% grade with a 4.4% grade. If the length of
the curve is 84 meter, what is the maximum safe
speed on this curve?
• Assume a 3.4 m /sec2, perception-reaction
time 2.5 sec, and that S < L.
Sag Vertical Curve
Length of Sag Vertical Curves
The selection of the minimum length of a sag
vertical curve is controlled by the following four
criteria:
i. SSD provided by the headlight,
ii. comfort while driving on the curve,
iii. general appearance of the curve, and
iv. adequate control of drainage at the low
point of the curve
SSD parameters used in design of sag vertical curves
Sag Vertical Curve (AASHTO, 2011)
Crest Vertical Curve (AASHTO, 2011)
SSD parameters used in design of under passing sag curves
Gradients
• In flat terrain (most of Bangladesh) the 3% grade
limit will ensure that the roads provide a good
level of service for all types of traffic including
non-motorised vehicles (NMVs).
• The choice of grade limits for rolling and hilly
terrain reflects the fact that there is a high
proportion of overloaded trucks and buses on
our roads.
• There is generally very little NMV traffic in these
areas.
Geometric Design Guide of RHD
Sight Distance on Horizontal Curves
• Important element of horizontal alignment is the
sight distance across the inside of curves.
• Where there are sight obstructions (such as walls,
cut slopes, buildings, and longitudinal barriers) on
the inside of curves or the inside of the median
lane on divided highways and their removal to
increase sight distance is impractical, a design may
need adjustment in the normal highway cross
section or the alignment
Sight Distance on Horizontal Curves
Figure 3-23 Diagram Illustrating Components for Determining
Horizontal Sight Distance (AASHTO)
Sight Distance on Horizontal Curves
Example
A horizontal curve with a radius of 244 m forms part
of two lane HW with speed limit of 56 kph. If the
HW is flat in this section, determine the minimum
distance that a large billboard can be placed from
Centre of the line of inside lane of the curve without
reducing required SSD.
Soln.
SSD = ?
Now M= R(1-cos 28.65 S/R)
=
Variation for Trucks
• The recommended stopping sight distances are based on
passenger car operation and do not explicitly consider design for
truck operation.
• Trucks as a whole, especially the larger and heavier units, need
longer stopping distances for a given speed than passenger
vehicles.
• However, there is one factor that tends to balance the additional
braking lengths for trucks with those for passenger cars.
• The truck driver is able to see substantially farther beyond
vertical sight obstructions because of the higher position of the
seat in the vehicle.
• Separate stopping sight distances for trucks and passenger cars,
therefore, are not generally used in highway design.
Decision Sight Distance
• Stopping sight distances are usually sufficient
to allow reasonably competent and alert
drivers to come to a hurried stop under
ordinary circumstances.
• However, greater distances may be needed
where drivers must make complex or
instantaneous decisions, where information is
difficult to perceive, or when unexpected or
unusual maneuvers are needed.
Decision Sight Distance
• It is evident that there are many locations where it
would be prudent to provide longer sight
distances. In these circumstances, decision sight
distance provides the greater visibility distance
that drivers need.
• Decision sight distance is the distance needed for
a driver to detect an unexpected or otherwise
difficult to perceive information source or
condition in a roadway environment that may be
visually cluttered, recognize the condition or its
potential threat, select an appropriate speed and
path, and initiate and complete complex
maneuvers
Decision Sight Distance
• Because decision sight distance offers drivers
additional margin for error and affords them
sufficient length to maneuver their vehicles at
the same or reduced speed, rather than to just
stop, its values are substantially greater than
stopping sight distance.
Decision Sight Distance
Examples of critical locations where it is desirable
to provide decision sight distance include :
• interchange and intersection locations where
unusual or unexpected maneuvers are needed
• changes in cross section such as toll plazas
• lane drops, and areas of concentrated demand
where there is apt to be “visual noise” from
competing sources of information, such as
roadway elements, traffic, traffic control devices,
and advertising signs.
Decision Sight Distance (AASHTO, 2011)
Decision Sight Distance
Decision Sight Distance
Passing Sight Distance for Two-Lane
Highways
• Passing maneuvers in which faster vehicles move
ahead of slower vehicles are accomplished on lanes
regularly used by opposing traffic
• If passing is to be accomplished without interfering
with an opposing vehicle, the passing driver should
be able to see a sufficient distance ahead, clear of
traffic, so the passing driver can decide whether to
initiate and to complete the passing maneuver
without cutting off the passed vehicle before
meeting an opposing vehicle that appears during
the maneuver.
Sight Distance for Multilane Highways
(AASHTO)
• There is no need to consider passing sight
distance on highways or streets that have two or
more traffic lanes in each direction of travel
• Multilane roadways should have continuously
adequate stopping sight distance, with
greater-than-design sight distances preferred
Figure 7. AASHTO (2004) model for PSD calculations
Passing Sight Distance
• PSD Calculations on Two-Lane Highways
• AASHTO Green Book of (2018 and 2011) does not
provide specific formulae for calculating the
required PSD, however, previous versions of
AASHTO Green Book (2001 and 2004) use the
minimum passing sight distance for TLTW
highways as the sum of the following four
distances:
Passing Sight Distance (AASHTO, 2001)
Passing Sight Distance
• The design values for passing sight distance are
presented in Table 3-4 and are shown in
comparison to stopping sight distance criteria in
Figure 3-1.
• It is apparent from the comparison in Figure 3-1
that more sight distance is needed to
accommodate passing maneuvers on a two-lane
highway than for stopping sight distance that is
provided continuously along the highway
Passing Sight Distance (AASHTO, 2011)
Crest Vertical Curve (AASHTO, 2011)
ISD
• Intermediate Sight Distance.
• This is the visibility necessary for a driver to be
able to see whether the road ahead is
sufficiently clear to enable him to overtake,
assuming that he will abort the manoeuvre if
an oncoming vehicle appears before he has
got level with the slower vehicle.
• ISD is much less than OSD/PSD yet it permits
reasonably safe overtaking.
• ISD is about twice SSD.
ISD
• It is assumed that the observer and the
obstruction are at eye height (1.2m).
• Two-lane roads should have a high proportion of
sections with ISD, or better still OSD.
• SSD must always be available even on the most
difficult sections.
• Single lane roads should be designed to ISD
standards, because opposing vehicles occupy the
same lane. This enables drivers to avoid a collision
if they see an oncoming vehicle, even if the other
vehicle does not slow down.
• Dual carriageway roads should be designed to
provide ISD.
Passing Lanes
– Provide systematically at regular interval (otherwise inform
the drivers well in advance to reduce their frustration)
– Place them at logical places (where PSD is restricted)
– A minimum sight distance of 1000 ft on the approach to each
taper is recommended.
– Avoid locations near driveways and
intersections to reduce turning
movements (slow down traffic)
– Avoid structures unless continuous
shoulder can be provided
Passing Lanes: Length and location
• A minimum length of 1000 ft, excluding tapers, to assure
at least one vehicle completing the pass
• A lane added to improve overall traffic operations should
be long enough, over 0.3 mi. The optimal length is 0.5 to 2
miles (the more traffic, the longer length)
• Keep the shoulder width matching to the other segments
(at min 4.0 ft wide)
• Typically no median is needed in the segments where
passing lanes are added. If a total of 500 veh/hr is
expected, a median may be advantageous.
• Taper length L = WS (W: ft, S: mph)
• Provide signs to inform drivers.
Passing Lanes
Criteria for Measuring Sight Distance
• Height of Driver’s Eye: For all sight distance
calculations for passenger vehicles, the height of the
driver’s eye is considered to be 1.08 m [3.50 ft] above
the road surface (passenger car). considered to be the
appropriate height of driver’s eye for measuring both
stopping and passing sight distances
• Height of Object: For stopping sight distance and
decision sight distance calculations, the height of
object is considered to be 0.60 m [2.00 ft] above the
road surface.
• For passing sight distance calculations, the height of
object is considered to be 1.08 m [3.50 ft] above the
road surface
Criteria for Measuring Sight Distance
• Intersection sight distance object—As in the
case of passing sight distance, the object to be
seen by the driver in an intersection sight
distance situation is another vehicle.
Therefore, design for intersection sight
distance is based on the same object height
used in design for passing sight distance, 1.08
m [3.50 ft].
• Decision sight distance object—The 0.60-m
[2.00-ft] object-height criterion adopted for
stopping sight distance is also used for
decision sight distance.
Thank you