ROAD SAFETY IMPACTS OF SIGHT DISTANCE CRITERIA ACCORDING TO ALBANIAN CODE

Sight distance is an important criterion in highway geometric design for traffic safety to ensure that the driver can see any possible road hazard insufficient time to take action and avoid an accident. Many Albanian roads have been designed and constructed before 1991 based on standards in place as of the construction time. More recently, investments have been made for upgrading and expanding the transport infrastructure in the country. The importance of providing adequate sight distance for safe and efficient traffic is well recognized by researchers and included in most design manuals. Horizontal curves, crest vertical curves, and rural intersections are the common sight restrictions considered in highway design. Stopping sight distance (SSD) is the most important of the sight-distance considerations since sufficient SSD is required at any point along the roadway. Technical road standards used in Albania before 1991 were based upon outdated standards. Currently, road design standards have been changed receiving considerable European standards. This paper analyses the sight distance estimation criterion using the upgraded manual. For this purpose, road design examples have been studied based on sight design requirements and geometric data. The results obtained through calculation were compared according to upgraded standards to investigate road safety associated with highway geometric design.