Breakaway Hardware

Breakaway supports for signs, luminaries, motorist aid callboxes, traffic signals, mailboxes, and other features placed alongside the road are designed to break or yield when struck by a vehicle. The FHWA has adopted the testing parameters and criteria in the AASHTO Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic Signals for determining acceptable breakaway performance. AASHTO issued new editions to this specification in 1985 and 1994.

The 1994 AASHTO edition changed the maximum acceptable velocity change to 16.0 feet per second and converted all values to SI units. The 1993 NCHRP Report 350 contains detailed guidance for crash testing of all highway features. Note that breakaway support hardware acceptable under either the 1985 or 1994 editions of the AASHTO specifications are acceptable under the NCHRP Report 350 testing guidelines.

Following adoption of the 1985 AASHTO crash-test specifications, the FHWA began issuing acceptance letters to manufacturers of breakaway support systems acknowledging that the devices tested successfully according to the parameters and performed satisfactorily. Typically, the acceptance letters describe the device tested and include a drawing of the device, test results, and information on limitations on use of the device, such as the weight of the system tested or the soil in which it is acceptable. Also, FHWA policy requires the use of crash-worthy hardware within the clear zone of all NHS routes, regardless of the ownership of the roadway or the source of project funding.

Three lists of breakaway hardware are:

Program Contact

Brian Fouch
Safety Design Team Leader

(202) 366-0744

What’s New

Guidance memorandum on the Roadside Design Guide - 4th Edition NEW!

Memorandum - Roadside Safety Hardware-Federal-Aid Reimbursement Eligibility Process NEW!

2009 MUTCD Compliance Dates Revised NEW!

FHWA Technical Advisory T 5040.40: Center Line Rumble Strips NEW!

FHWA Memo: Technical Advisories for Rumble Strips NEW!

Roadway Departure Safety Implementation Plans

Roadway Departure Countermeasures

Roadside Design: Steel Strong Post W-beam. A guidance memo was issued on May 17, 2010 on the height of guardrail for new installations. Guidance regarding existing guardrail will be developed in the next several months, in consultation with AASHTO’s Technical Committee on Roadside Safety.

Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [HTML, PDF]

MUTCD Text of the Proposed Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Standard

Summary of the MUTCD Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Standard

Revised Assessment of Economic Impacts of Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity

Publications

Low Cost Treatments for Horizontal Curve Safety

The Safety Edge