Application of Highway Safety Manual Method for Ramp Crash Prediction to Loop and Diamond Ramps

The AASHTO Highway Safety Manual (HSM) now includes crash prediction procedures for ramps. Research was undertaken to assess how well these new crash prediction methods represented the safety performance of two ramp types with distinctly different geometrics: loop ramps and diamond ramps. The HSM crash prediction procedures were applied to 235 loop ramps and 243 diamond ramps in two states-California and Washington-and the results were compared with 5 years of actual crash data for the same ramps. The results indicate that the HSM crash prediction method can be applied to both loop and diamond ramps, but to compare the safety performance of these two ramp types properly, separate calibration of loop and diamond ramps is needed.