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EVALUATING DRIVERS’ STOP-LINE VIOLATION BEHAVIOR AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS
ABSTRACT
Stop lines are common at intersections; however, few studies have focused on the position of stopped vehicles with respect to the stop line. Often drivers will stop their vehicles over the line creating potential operational or safety problems. In this thesis, data collected from local intersections in State College, Pennsylvania, indicated that only 61 percent of the vehicles observed were in compliance and 13 percent of the vehicles observed were committing severe violations. The data were analyzed to characterize driver behavior related to stop location during red phases. Driver stop line violations were influenced by many factors in this study. Lane usage (right turn only) was associated with high violation rates. Minor roads, when compared to major roads, were more likely to have more severe violations, while morning periods had more minor violations than other time periods. Through only lanes or increased distance from the stop line to the crosswalk or curb extension line promoted higher rates of compliance. Improvements on having a good sight view, keeping enough sight distance and vehicle stop distance could be good choices on reducing severe stop line violations. Increasing the distance from a stop line to a crosswalk or curb extension line an additional 10 feet might provide enough space for the majority of the vehicles stopping at an intersection from entering the crosswalk or intersection area.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. v
List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………………………… vii
Chapter 1 Background ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Existing problems and potential risks …………………………………………………………………… 2
Literature review ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Definition for stop line and stop line violation ………………………………………………… 4
Research on stop line related violations …………………………………………………………. 5
Vehicle length measurement method …………………………………………………………….. 6
Sight distance for signalized intersection ……………………………………………………….. 7
Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Chapter 2 Methodology …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Data collection ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Vehicle violation measurement …………………………………………………………………….. 9
Data collection procedure …………………………………………………………………………….. 13
Site selection ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
Intersection geometric information ……………………………………………………………….. 15
Chapter 3 Data Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
Data descriptions, summarization and sieve-filtration …………………………………………….. 18
Model used for regression …………………………………………………………………………………… 21
Group comparison for different variables ……………………………………………………………… 27
Different time period …………………………………………………………………………………… 27
Different usage lanes …………………………………………………………………………………… 27
Different types of vehicles …………………………………………………………………………… 28
Major road or minor road …………………………………………………………………………….. 28
Distance from stop line to crosswalk or curb extension line ……………………………… 28
Chapter 4 Regression Model Results …………………………………………………………………………… 29
Intersection factors regression results …………………………………………………………………… 29
Chapter 5 Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 35
Appendix A Selected intersection map views ………………………………………………………………. 37
Appendix B Table of stop line violation data ………………………………………………………………. 47References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 55
Chapter 1
Background
Stop lines are transverse road surface markings that inform drivers of where they should stop when approaching an intersection. Stop lines are placed to prevent vehicles from entering intersections at the wrong time, to force vehicles to yield to pedestrians and cyclists to allow them to cross the street safely, and to provide space for on-coming vehicles to make a left or right turn onto the adjacent lane. Vehicles should stop before the stop line when a traffic signal is in the red phase or there is a stop sign. However, in consulting several sources (e.g., the Pennsylvania
Vehicle Code, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) Bureau of Highway Safety and Traffic Engineering; the Pennsylvania State Police), there seems to be no consensus as to what constitutes compliant behavior.
Specifically, which part of the vehicle (leading surface of front bumper or front axle) should be before which part of the stop bar (front or rear edge) for behavior to be compliant? The correct behavior is not clearly specified although the Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual[1] states that “drivers are allowed to move their vehicle over a stop line if there isn’t adequate sight distance for them to get enough information to determine if it is safe for them to enter the cross street.” Most drivers at signalized intersections will not have this problem. In their daily driving, however, many operators tend to stop over the stop line when they encounter a red indication, which could be dangerous for them and many of the other motor vehicle operators, pedestrians, and bicyclists using the intersection.
Existing problems and potential risks
Individual drivers may have a different understanding about where to stop relative to the location of the stop line when the traffic signal is red. Many drivers stop beyond the stop line and some of them even enter the pedestrian crosswalk, if one is present. This behavior happens every day at many signalized intersections and can also be seen at the street level view of an intersection found on Google Maps. Below is an example that shows the previously described problems in a more straightforward manner. Figure 1-1 is the intersection of West Park Avenue and North Atherton Street in State College, Pennsylvania. The black pickup truck is clearly passed the stop line and has even entered the pedestrian crosswalk, which could alter the path of a pedestrian crossing West Park Avenue and expose that person to the vehicle stream on the cross street, North Atherton Street.
Figure 1-1. The intersection of North Atherton Street and West Park Avenue from Google Maps.
At that same intersection, buses need a larger radius to make a right turn from West Park Avenue onto North Atherton Street than what is provided by the constructed curb return. The path the bus follows is the red line shown in Figure 1-2, which requires the bus to take up two lanes, on both the approach and departure legs, to make a right-turn. If the vehicle on North Atherton Street trying to turn left onto West Park Avenue stops over the stop line, it will be much more difficult for buses to make the right turn and could elevate the risk of a side-swipe crash.
The lane width for West Park Ave is about 10 feet (ft) (3.05m) for the right turn lane and
9ft (2.75m) for the other two lanes (the left turning approach and the receiving/departure leg). Vehicles from North Atherton Street turning right entering West Park Avenue need to slow more if there is a vehicle stopped over stop line on the left-turn lane of West Park Avenue. It is similar for vehicles from North Atherton Street turning left onto West Park Avenue. A larger radius is required if a vehicle occupies the space between the stop line of the left-turn lane on West Park
Avenue and the crosswalk.
Figure 1-2. The bus route through the intersection of North Atherton Street and West Park Avenue (Source: Google Maps).
In some cases, a vehicle stopped on a left turn lane needs to move backward to leave enough space for large vehicles (buses or large articulated trucks) to turn into the adjacent lane, which will usually cause some delay. This problem can be much more severe at intersections with narrow lane widths in urban areas during peak hours.
The thesis will introduce the measurement of stop line violation, a stop line violation data collection method, a violation data analysis method, regression results of the analyzed data, and findings from the regression.
