BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS OF ADVANCE TREATMENT FOR NO-PASSING ZONES (ABRIDGEMENT)

The system under discussion consists of a dotted yellow line adjacent to the roadway centerline throughout the downstream end of the passing zone in conjunction with the standard NO PASSING ZONE pennant sign at the beginning of the no-passing zone's solid yellow barrier stripe. To arrive at a benefit-cost ratio, it was necessary to estimate: costs of implementing the treatment nationwide; the number of no-passing zones nationwide; the number of passing maneuvers executed annually on the nation's two-line highways; the number of these involving clipping; the number of accidents involving sight-restricted passing maneuvers; and the reduction in the number of accidents and lives saved by the use of this marking system. These were calculated using a combination of state-supplied information, research on passing operations, accident statistics from several state studies of advance treatment and from national statistics and field measurements on the passing maneuver by state agencies. Using NHTSA cost values it was estimated that between 5646 and 7700 accidents (involving 198 to 270 deaths) a year would be eliminated, at a cost saving of between 77 million and 105 million dollars.