| Abstract: | The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and other transportation agencies continue to search potential countermeasures for mitigating wrong-way crashes. Because many drivers involved in wrong-way crashes are impaired, some highway safety engineers are proponents of using low-mounting height signs to communicate "Wrong Way" or "Do Not Enter" messages to these drivers. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) has a provision for the use of a 3-ft. sign mounting height. However, as with other sign support systems, any low-mounting height sign support system should meet impact performance criteria prior to its implementation on the national highway system. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact performance of a 3-ft x 3-ft aluminum sign panel mounted at a reduced mounting height of 3 ft from the bottom of the panel to grade. The sign panel is supported by a wedge anchor system. To evaluate the impact performance of the sign support system, two crash tests were performed under American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) evaluation criteria. These were MASH Tests 3-60 and 3-61, which consist of a 2425-lb passenger car impacting the sign support system at nominal speeds of 19 mi/h and 62 mi/h, respectively. In both tests, the 3-ft mounting height support system performed acceptably and met all relevant MASH evaluation criteria. MASH Test 3-62, which involves a 5000-lb pickup truck impacting the support structure at a speed of 62 mi/h, was not performed. The reduced mounting height of the sign support system eliminates any secondary contact between the sign support system and the windshield of the pickup truck. |
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