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Related News Additional Evidence of HOV Lane Dangers Study: HOV/Carpool Lanes Cause Accidents View Main Topics:   Subscribe via RSS or E-Mail Back To Front Page |
3/31/2005 Study: HOV/Carpool Lanes Cause AccidentsTexas Transportation Institute study finds that non buffer-separated HOV lanes cause a 50 percent increase in injury accidents.  A newly released Texas Transportation Institute study suggests that High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) or carpool lanes that are not separated from regular lanes with a physical barrier experience a 41-56 percent increase in injury accidents. Almost all new freeway lanes are set aside for HOV use only because federal environmental regulations strongly favor their use. The main benefit promised by HOV lanes -- faster travel for carpoolers -- is what causes the accidents, according to the study. During peak traffic times, the speed differential between the regular lanes and HOV lanes ranges between 21 and 35 MPH. For example, a slower car trying to merge into the HOV lane may be rear-ended by faster moving HOV traffic that cannot slow down in time. Overall, the general purpose traffic lane closest to the HOV lanes experienced a 153-188 percent increase in injury accidents. The study examined 1,150 individual crash reports from the I-35 and LBJ Freeways in Dallas, Texas from 1997-2000. Full text of study available below in a 1.8mb PDF file. Key Statistic: Dallas corridors with buffer-separated concurrent flow HOV lanes did show a change in crash occurrence with an increase in injury crash rates. The IH-35E North corridor experienced a 56 percent increase in the injury crash rate. The IH-635 corridor experienced a 41 percent increase in the injury crash rate. [Page 2] The average number of injury crashes in Lane 1 of IH-35E from 1997-2000 is 153 percent higher than the 1990-1994 average. The average number of injury crashes number in Lane 1 of IH-635 from 1997-2000 is 188 percent higher than the 1990-1994 average. An increase in the other general-purpose lanes was noted for both corridors; but, the increase is not as substantial as the Lane 1 increase. [Page 30] Article Excerpt: The research team identified three key findings from the crash data analysis of DallasSource:  CRASH ANALYSIS OF SELECTED HIGH-OCCUPANCY VEHICLE (Texas Transportation Institute, 3/30/2005)Regional News: Other news about Dallas, Texas Permanent Link for this item Return to Front Page |
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