Bayesian reconstruction of median-crossing crashes and potential effectiveness of cable barriers

A cross-median crash occurs when a vehicle leaves its traveled way, completely crosses the median dividing the highway's directional lanes, and collides with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. As the advent of divided highways reduced head-on collisions, and the prevalence of forgiving roadsides reduced fixed-object collisions, fatalities caused by median crossings became relatively more prominent. This paper describes the reconstruction of several fatal median-crossing events; the events occurred although the medians were wider than the recommended 30-ft minimum. The impact severities generated by these events, however, were such that the median crossings probably would have been prevented by NCHRP Report 350 Test Level 3 barriers.