The Tasmanian government wanted to understand the effect of curve advisory signage on a rural highway bend.
The Tasmanian government wanted to assess the effectiveness of curve advisory signage at reducing the risk of deaths and serious injuries on a bend on the Arthur Highway. A curve advisory sign and advisory speed was installed following a fatal crash at a bend that otherwise did not have a crash history that would have identified it as a concern.
Several near-misses were recorded in 2023 at the curve location with high speeds and harsh braking and swerving g-forces. Below is a picture from the Compass Road Intelligence platform near-misses in 2023.
To address the road safety challenges, the government installed a curve advisory sign in February 2024 before going back and reviewing the data in June later that year.
During a review using Compass, it was identified that there was a high rate of harsh steering and braking activity considered to be “near miss activity” prior to the fatal crash that couldn’t be captured using traditional crash history analysis. A review pre and post installation of the sign showed a reduction in speed and harsh steering and braking activity, meaning that the sign was an effective intervention.
Below is the recorded near-misses after the signage installation.
The light blue line is before the curve advisory signage was installed and the bottom dark blue line is speeds along the curve after the signage was installed. There is a significant drop in speeds in the dark blue line where the curve advisory signage was installed and a decrease in average speeds along the entire section of the highway.
