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   NCHRP Report 350
  Latest Update

NCHRP Report 350


NCHRP 350 COMPLIANT
New Sign Post Specifications - IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Soon there will be new specifications on breakaway sign posts.
Current MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) specifications state that ground mounted sign supports shall be breakaway, yielding or shielded with a longitudinal barrier or crash cushion if within the clear zone. There are more stringent deformation requirements coming -

LESS ROOF DEFORMATION ALLOWED and NO WINDSHIELD PENETRATION FROM SIGNS AND SUPPORTS DURING A COLLISION ARE ACCEPTABLE.

SOLUTION: SNAP’n SAFE™ Couplers

Designovations, Inc. now offers new technology with the SNAP'n SAFE™ breakaway sign post couplers. Using a vehicle specified in the existing Report 350, this new technology meets and exceeds the more stringent damage levels contained in the updated NCHRP Report 350 specifications for ground mounted sign supports.

Features and Benefits
Cost Savings - Install or repair sign posts in half the time with one person.
Roads are Safer - The sign post will no longer strike and penetrate the windshield or roof of a vehicle during a collision.
No anchors to repair, slash crew exposure to traffic, and Reduced Liability.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Device (MUTCD section 2A-19) which is the national standard used for all roads open to public travel, states that roadside sign supports in the clear zone SHALL be breakaway, yielding or shielded.

This requirement applies to all roads, whether publicly or privately owned.

VEHICLES INVOLVED IN CRASHES WHERE THE MOST HARMFUL EVENT WAS VEHICLE STRIKING HIGHWAY OR TRAFFIC SIGN POST BY YEAR AND CRASH SEVERITY.

    Crash Severity    
      Property  
    Damage  
Year Fatal Injury Only All Crashes
2000 86 58,234 131,814 190,133
2001 95 58,971 125,430 184,496
2002 103 54,696 128,185 182,984
2003 132 65,693 151,348 217,173
2004 100 57,782 135,833 193,715
2005 88 61,962 148,766 210,816
Total 604 357,338 821,376 1,179,317

Fatalities: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2000-2004 Final & 2005 Annual Report File (ARF) Injuries: General Estimates System (GES) 2000-2005

NOTE: The injury and property damage numbers are not actual counts, but estimates of the actual counts. The estimates are calculated from data obtained from a nationally representative sample of crashes collected through NHTSA's General Estimates System (GES).

Estimates should be rounded to the nearest 1,000. Estimates less than 500 indicate that the sample size was too small to produce a meaningful estimate and should be rounded to 0.

This report was generated by NCSA's Information Services Branch, MAD; CMS# 2006.02483; MEVENT.SAS; DMP; October 13, 2006 8:36