Lecture 5 Site - Distance

Sight Distances
Sight Distances
The safe and efficient operation of vehicles on the
road depends very much on the visibility of the
road ahead of the driver.
Thus the geometric design of the road should be
done such that any obstruction on the road length
could be visible to the driver from some distance
ahead . This distance is said to be the sight
distance.
Types of sight distance
Sight distance available from a point is the actual
distance along the road surface, over which a driver
from a specified height above the carriage way has
visibility of stationary or moving objects. sight
distance situations considered for design are:
Stopping sight distance (SSD) or the absolute
minimum sight distance
Intermediate sight distance (ISD) is the defined as
twice SSD
Overtaking sight distance (OSD) for safe overtaking
operation
Head light sight distance is the distance visible to a
driver during night driving under the illumination of
head light
Factors
The computation of sight distance depends on:
 Reaction time of the driver
 Speed of the vehicle
 Efficiency of brakes
 Frictional resistance between the tire and the road
 Gradient of the road
Reaction time of the driver
Reaction time of a driver is the time taken from

the instant the object is visible to the driver to the
instant when the brakes are applied.
Many of the studies shows that drivers
require about 1.5 to 2 seconds under normal
conditions.
However taking into consideration the variability
of driver characteristics, a higher value is normally
used in design
Speed of the vehicle
The speed of the vehicle very much affects the
sight distance.
Higher the speed, more time will be required to
stop the vehicle. Hence it is evident that, as the
speed increases, sight distance also increases.
Efficiency of brakes
The efficiency of the brakes depends upon the age
of the vehicle, vehicle characteristics etc. If the
brake efficiency is 100%, the vehicle will stop the
moment the brakes are applied.
But practically, it is not possible to achieve 100%
brake efficiency.
Therefore it could be understood that sight distance
required will be more when the efficiency of brakes
are less.
Also for safe geometric design, we assume that the
vehicles have only 50% brake efficiency.
Frictional resistance between the tire
and the road
The frictional resistance between the tire and road
plays an important role to bring the vehicle to stop.
When the frictional resistance is more, the
vehicles stop immediately. Thus sight required
will be less.
The value of longitudinal friction in between 0.35
to 0.4.
Gradient of the road
Gradient of the road also affects the sight
distance. While climbing up a gradient, the vehicle
can stop immediately. Therefore sight distance
required is less.
While descending a gradient, gravity also comes
into action and more time will be required to stop
the vehicle. Sight distance required will be more in
that case.
Stopping sight distance
SSD is the minimum sight distance available on a
highway at any spot having sufficient length to
enable the driver to stop a vehicle traveling at
design speed, safely without collision with any
other obstruction.
SSD is made up of two components:
(1) Braking Distance and
(2) Perception-Reaction Time
Criteria for Sight Distance
Driver eye height: for passenger vehicle’s = 3.5
feet above surface
Height of object in roadway = 2 feet (SSD)
Height of opposing vehicle = 3.5 feet (PSD)
deceleration rate of 11.2 feet/second2
PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE
Passing sight distance considerations are limited
to 2-lane, 2-way highways. On these facilities,
vehicles may overtake slower moving vehicles.
Cont..,
Passing sight distance for passenger cars is
measured from a 3.5 feet (1.080 m) height of eye
to a 3.5 feet (1.080 m) height of object.
The 3.5 feet (1.080 m) height of object allows the
opposing driver to see the top of a typical
passenger car.
The recommended value of truck driver eye height
for design is 7.6 feet (2.330 m) above the roadway
surface.
INTERSECTION SIGHT DISTANCE (ISD)
In general, ISD refers to the corner sight distance
available in intersection quadrants that allows a
driver approaching an intersection to observe the
actions of vehicles on the crossing leg(s).
Cont..,
The height of eye for passenger cars is assumed
to be 3.5 ft (1.080 m) above the surface of the
road.
The height of object (approaching vehicle on the
major road) is also assumed to be 3.5 ft (1.080 m).
An object height of 3.5 ft (1.080 m) assumes that
a sufficient portion of the oncoming vehicle must
be visible to identify it as an object of concern by
the minor road driver
Cont..,
The sight distance should be provided such that
the drivers on either side should be able to see
each other.
Design of sight distance at intersections may be
used on three possible conditions:
Enabling approaching vehicle to change the speed
Enabling approaching vehicle to stop
Enabling stopped vehicle to cross a main road
Decision Sight Distance
The available sight distance on a highway
needed to detect an unexpected or otherwise
difficult-to-perceive information in a roadway
environment
Cont..,
Decision sight distance values are greater than
stopping sight distance values because they give
the driver an additional margin for error and afford
sufficient length to maneuver at the same or
reduced speed rather than to just stop
Cont..,
Consider decision sight distances at locations
where there is high likelihood for driver error in
information reception, decision making, or control
actions.
If site characteristics and budget allow, locate
these highway features where decision sight
distance can be provided. If this is not practicable,
use suitable traffic control devices and positive
guidance to give advanced warning of the
conditions.

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Sight Distances

Reaction time of a driver is the time taken from

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