Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Abstract
Most highly motorized countries in the world have implemented different speed limits for light weight and heavy weight vehicles. The heavy vehicle speed limit is usually chosen to be lower than that of passenger cars due to the difficulty for the drivers to safely maneuver the heavy vehicle at high speed and greater impact during a crash. However, in many cases, the speed limit for heavy vehicle is set by only considering the vehicle size or category, mostly due to simplicity in enforcement. In this study, traffic and vehicular data for all vehicle types were collected using a weigh-in-motion system installed at Federal Route 54 in Malaysia. The first finding from the data showed that the weight variation for each vehicle category is considerable. Therefore, the effect of gross vehicle weight (GVW) and category of heavy vehicle on free flow speed and their interaction were analyzed using statistical techniques. Empirical analysis results showed that statistically for each type of heavy vehicle, there was a significant relationship between free flow speed of a heavy vehicle and GVW. Specifically, the results suggest that the mean and variance of free flow speed decrease with an increase GVW by the amount unrelated to size and shape for all GVW range. Then, based on the 85th percentile principle, the study proposed a new concept for setting the speed limit for heavy vehicle by incorporating GVW where a different speed limit is imposed to the heavy vehicle, not only based on vehicle classification, but also according to its GVW. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
Keywords
Differential speed limit, Free flow speed, Heavy vehicle, Vehicle weight, Weigh-in-motion, Different speed, Empirical analysis, Gross vehicle weight, Heavy weight vehicles, Light weight, Malaysia, Size and shape, Speed limit, Statistical techniques, Vehicle classification, Vehicle size, Vehicle types, Weigh-in-motion systems, Automobiles, Speed, Weigh-in-motion (WIM), Vehicles
Divisions
fac_eng
Publication Title
Accid Anal Prev
Volume
43
Issue
3
Additional Information
Saifizul, Ahmad Abdullah Yamanaka, Hideo Karim, Mohamed Rehan eng England 2011/03/08 06:00 Accid Anal Prev. 2011 May;43(3):1068-73. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.12.013. Epub 2011 Jan 15.