The impact of traffic sign quality on the frequency of traffic accidents

Abstract

As part of an overall traffic signalling system, traffic signs warn the traffic participants, give information about the restrictions, prohibitions and obligations and provide additional information needed for a safe and undisturbed traffic flow. The traffic sign quality is expressed by its retroreflection and it is particularly pronounced in conditions of reduced visibility. The aim of this paper is to analyse how traffic signs quality affects the frequency of traffic accidents in low visibility conditions. For this purpose, traffic accidents and the quality of traffic signs were analysed on 130 state roads in the Republic of Croatia between 2013 and 2015. In the analysis several variables were used: the number of traffic accidents occurred under reduced visibility conditions, length of the road, AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic) and the number of traffic signs that do not meet the minimum prescribed values of retroreflection. Statistical analysis showed a positive correlation between the accidents and unsatisfactory traffic signs, i.e. that with the increase in the number of traffic sings that do not have a satisfactory level of retroreflection, an increase in the number of accidents in reduced visibility conditions is expected.