A Comparative Evaluation of the Safety Performance of Median Barriers on Non-urban Roads in Israel

This study compared the safety of road sections with various median barriers, namely: Step-shaped in-situ barriers, pre-cast concrete barriers and steel guardrails, as new barrier types (that satisfy the requirements of EN 1317 in Europe), and old NJ-shaped in-situ barriers. The study included 558 km of non-urban Israeli roads. Negative-binomial regression models were fitted for predicting crashes, and differences in crash expectancy were evaluated for various barrier types, while controlling for other road and traffic characteristics. On dual-carriageway roads, sections with Step-barriers showed a better safety level relative to those with NJ-barriers and, sometimes, to other barrier types. On motorways, the safety level of sections with Step-barriers was better or similar to that with NJ-barriers, with no difference compared to the pre-cast barriers, while sections with steel guardrails had a better safety level, particularly at traffic volumes over 40,000 vehicles. The economic evaluation showed benefits for replacing the old NJ-barrier by a Step-barrier, on dual-carriageway roads, and by steel barriers, on motorways.