UNIVERSITY OF THE
CORDILLERAS COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
AND ARCHITECTURE
Introduction to
Highway
Engineering
Human Characteristics
(II)
Learning Objectives
• To understand how human beings
interact with vehicles and
transportation facilities they use
– Sensing
– Perception-Reaction
– Driver Strategy
• To know and understand other
human roles related to the highway
environment
Human Elements
• Other Human Elements
– What other human roles are relevant
to the highway system besides
being the driver?
– Pedestrians
• In case of an accident, the pedestrian is
the victim
• 5,000 are killed and 70,000 injured each
year (U.S.)
• Pedestrian deaths account for about 11-
13% of all motor
vehicle deaths each year (U.S.)
• Crash Involvement Rate: Highest for 5-
Human Elements
In the Philippines, an increasing trend of road traffic deaths was
seen in the past decade, with road traffic deaths increasing by
39% from 7,938 deaths in 2011 to 11,096 deaths based on the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Report in 2021.
Around 1.35 million people die due to road traffic accidents
yearly. In the Philippines, there is an increasing trend of mortality
and morbidity caused by road crashes. (Lu, Herbosa, Lu, 2011)
Human Elements
• Other Human Elements
– Rates for older people (over 65
years) are
lower than for most age groups.
Why?
• Greater caution exercised
• Infrequence of walking near traffic
• Older pedestrians are more vulnerable to
injury or death than younger
pedestrians
– Some causes of pedestrian accidents
(US)
• Speeding: (2003) 31% of all fatal
Source: www.walkinginfo.org
Taken from U.K. Department of Transportation, Killing Speed
and Saving Lives, London, 1987.
https://www.moneymax.ph/car-insurance/articles/road-accidents-
causes
Other causes of vehicular
accidents in Iloilo, according to
the HPG, were:
- bad overtaking
- loose brakes / mechanical
malfunction
- weather condition / loss of
control
- distracted / inattentive driving
- drunk driving / under the
influence of illegal drugs
- night driving, wrong way
driving / bad turning
- poor / rough road / lack of, or
inappropriate signage, and
- lack of drivers’ education /
driving experience.
https://www.facebook.com/PanayNews/photos/
a.248112505258541/1001600503243067/?type=3
Human Elements
• Pedestrian Characteristics
– Walking speeds: 0.90 to 2.40 m/s
– At intersections:
• Males: 1.50 m/s; Females: 1.40 m/s
• Design Value: 1.22 m/s
• Accdg. to Rouphail, average walking speeds
depends
on the population of elderly pedestrians
– 1.22 m/s when elderly population:
20% and lower
– 0.90 m/s when elderly population:
more than 20%
– Pedestrians influence the design and
Human Elements
• Pedestrian Facilities
– Control devices
• Special pedestrian signals
• Safety zones and islands at intersections
• Pedestrian underpass
• Elevated walkways
• Crosswalks
• Traffic signals (All-red phase)
– Blind Pedestrian
– Handicapped Pedestrian: 0.60 to
1.12 m/s
• Special pedestrian signals
• Safe zones and islands
at intersections
• Pedestrian Underpass
• Elevated Walkway
• Crosswalks
• Traffic Signals at
Intersections
Human Elements
• Other Human Elements
– What other human roles are relevant
to the highway system besides
being the driver?
– Cyclists
– Becoming more prevalent and are
now an important component of
the highway mode
– Cyclist: Not only the driver, provides
power to move the bicycle
– Three classes of bicyclists: A, B,
Human Elements
• Cyclists
– Classes (AASHTO):
• A – advanced cyclists
• B – less experienced cyclists
• C – children riding on their own or with
parents
– Accdg. to a study by Pein:
• Level terrain speeds – 32 km/h
• Downgrade speeds – 50 km/h
• Upgrade speeds – 13 km/h
• Crossing an intersection from a stopped
position:
Road Vehicle Performance
(I)
Learning Objectives
• To understand the importance of
vehicle characteristics in the
geometric design of highways
• To introduce the basic principles of
road vehicle performance
• To learn about the forces and
components acting on a vehicle
traveling on a highway
Road Vehicle
Performance
• Vehicle Characteristics
– How are vehicle characteristics
important in the design of
highways?
– Form the basis for highway and
design guidelines and traffic
analysis
– Determine/quantify the following:
• Length of freeway acceleration and
deceleration lanes
• Maximum highway grades
• Stopping sight distances
• Passing sight distances
Road Vehicle
Performance
• Vehicle Characteristics
– Criteria are partly based on static,
dynamic, and kinematic
characteristics of vehicles
• Static: includes weight and size of
vehicle
• Dynamic: involves the forces that
cause the
motion of the vehicle
• Kinematic: involves the motion
of the vehicle without considering
the forces that cause the motion
– Design Vehicle: has
DESIGN VEHICLE
Road Vehicle
•
Performance
Design Vehicle
– AASHTO has selected four general
classes of vehicles:
• Passenger cars: sport/utility vehicles,
minivans, vans and pickup trucks
• Buses: intercity motor coaches, city transit,
school
and articulated buses
• Trucks: single-unit trucks, truck tractor-
semitrailer combinations, truck/truck tractors
with semitrailers in combination with full
trailers
• Recreational vehicles: motor homes,
cars with camper trailers, cars with boat
trailers, and motor homes pulling cars
Examples of
Different Types
of Trucks
Minimum
Turning Path
for Single-Unit
Truck Design
Vehicle
Minimum
Turning Path
for Interstate
Trailers
STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
Road Vehicle
Performance
• Static Characteristics
– Establish design standards for
physical components of the
highway including:
• Lane width
• Shoulder width
• Length and width of parking bays
• Length of vertical curves
Sample: Table showing the range of maximum values for each feature
Road Vehicle
• Performance
Static Characteristics
– Expression for overall maximum gross
weight for a group of two or more
consecutive axles
LN
W 500 12N 36
N 1
– Where:
W = overall gross weight (calculated to the
nearest 500 lb)
L = the extreme of any group of two or more
consecutive axles (ft)
N = number of axles in the group under consideration
***Gross load of 34,000 lb may be carried by two
consecutive
sets of tandem axles if the overall distance between
the first and last axles of the consecutive sets is 36
ft or more.***
