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Accident Reconstruction Research: Guardrails

Interstate Median Entry Crash/Fatigued Driver
Report # 178
February 1997

The nighttime crash described in this report occurred on a rural, divided interstate highway when a drowsy driver, inadvertently, allowed her vehicle to enter the median. Once in the grassy median, the now startled driver steered hard to her right and regained the roadway. In an attempt to correct this now sharp maneuver back onto the pavement, she steered hard to the left causing her vehicle to re-enter the median where it struck, in a glancing impact, a guardrail system. The car was re- directed, while spinning, back into the left inside lane and came to rest with its front blocking this lane. Due to the damage on the car’s front, all frontal lights were broken and inoperative.

Moments later, several motorists stopped on the emergency outside shoulder to render assistance. While two pedestrians were in the busy roadway, attempting to redirect traffic away from the wrecked car in the left lane, a third motorist had exited his vehicle and was standing on the emergency shoulder just south of the crash location. Another motorist also traveling in the left lane suddenly saw the wrecked car and swerved to his right to avoid it. As he lost control of his car, his vehicle ran off the road to the right where it gently struck a stopped vehicle and then it struck and killed the pedestrian. This car then came to rest in the soft berm near some trees alongside the emergency shoulder. This crash illustrates the hazards of driving while drowsy and the vulnerability of pedestrians standing alongside the highways. Also discussed in this report is the poor driving history of the drowsy driver, her utter disregard for Virginia’s traffic laws and the importance of median barriers at locations such as this crash site to protect motorists from errant vehicles which may enter the median. Additionally, this report addresses why the vehicle’s air bags did not deploy when the drowsy driver struck the guardrail.