Post-NCHRP Report 350 Issues and Research Needs

This circular provides a record of a symposium held July 26-27, 1993, in Newport, Oregon. The symposium was sponsored by TRB Committee A2A04, Roadside Safety Features. The circular provides some background on the symposium topic, overviews of presentations made by invited speakers, and summary discussions from breakout groups. Since the first crash test guidelines (one-half page in HRB Circular 482) in 1962, there has been a succession of hardware testing procedure documents. Each succeeding document has been more definitive and complex regarding how crash tests should be conducted, evaluated, and reported. NCHRP Report 230, entitled Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Appurtenances, was published in 1981. Although published as a guideline, this document has been used as a standard and certification document for the past decade. In 1993 this document was updated by NCHRP Report 350, Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features. Report 350 is a consensus document that incorporates current technology and the collective judgment and expertise of professionals in the field of roadside safety design. The major changes reflected in Report 350 when compared to Report 230 include: (1) changes to the test vehicles; (2) changes to the number and impact conditions of the test matrices; (3) adoption of test levels as opposed to service levels; (4) changes to the evaluation criteria; and (5) adoption of the International System of Units (SI). As would be expected, the publication of Report 350 has raised questions concerning its effects on the development and testing of both current and future hardware and safety features. This symposium on the issues and research needs related to the publication of Report 350 addresses the following questions: (A) Should selection guidelines (warrants) be developed for hardware designed according to Report 350? (B) Should testing labs be certified and, if so, should a product be self-certified? (C) Does Report 350 satisfy the requirements of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), and what are implications of the innovative barrier requirements of ISTEA?