1. Report No.

FHWA-SA-11-21

2. Government Accession No.

3. Recipient’s Catalog No.

4. Title and Subtitle

State Practices to Reduce Wet Weather Skidding Crashes

5. Report Date

May 2011

7. Author(s)

Colleen McGovern, Peter Rusch, David A. Noyce

8. Performing Organization Report No.

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
100 Cambridge Park Drive, Suite 400
Cambridge, MA 02140

10. Work Unit No.

11. Contract or Grant No.

DTFH6-05-D-00026-T-10003

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Safety
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

Final Report

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. Supplementary Notes

The Contract Manager for this report was Guan Xu (Office of Safety Technologies). Additional technical oversight provided by: Joseph Cheung (Office of Safety), Richard Knoblauch (Office of Research, Development, and Technology), Roya Amjadi (Office of Safety Research and Development), Mike Moravec (Office of Pavement Technology), Craig Allred (Resource Center).

16. Abstract

This report provides guidance to states for implementing a program focused on reducing wet weather skidding crashes and identifies the four common components of existing state programs. These components include identification of wet pavement crashes, friction testing procedures, investigation and remedial action of wet pavement crash locations, and project/program evaluations. The report identifies existing guidance from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) related to each of the four components. It also provides detailed case studies on existing state programs in California, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Virginia, all of which have shown success in reducing wet weather skidding crashes. The report concludes with a comparison of the five state programs and identifies common procedures for each of the four program components. This report provides states with valuable information to launch a wet weather crash reduction program or to improve an existing program.

17. Key Words

Wet weather crash reduction program, pavement friction, pavement friction treatments

18. Distribution Statement

No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.

19. Security Classif. (of this report)

Unclassified

20. Security Classif.
(of this page)

Unclassified

21. No of Pages

42

22. Price

N/A