Investigation of Roadway Design Methods for Decrease Likelihood of Roadway Departures for Motorcyclists: Technical Report

The scope of this research study was to comprehensively review existing literature related to roadway and roadside design methods for reducing the likelihood of motorcyclist crashes, and to explore collected department of transportation (DOT) crash and roadway inventory data for potential inclusion in a safety effectiveness evaluation study anticipated to be conducted in a future phase. This initial phase consisted of three tasks: a comprehensive literature review of national and international practices, a stakeholder/DOT survey and interviews, and existing crash and roadway inventory data collection and related investigation.

The results of the literature review showed that three types of infrastructure design methods are related to the likelihood of motorcyclist crashes: (a) roadway design, (b) roadway maintenance, and (c) roadside safety systems. Based on both the survey results and the research team’s expertise, the researchers identified states with readily available data to investigate the design methods to prevent and reduce motorcyclist crashes. After exploring the collected data, researchers selected four states for inclusion in the safety effectiveness evaluation study that is anticipated for Phase II of the project: Louisiana, Massachusetts, Utah, and Texas.