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Freeway

Safety Features

Keeping the driver alert to the road is important for preventing accidents. Lighting by overhead lamps allows the driver to see the road ahead at night, even at great distances. Guardrails may be placed alongside the roadway at curves and where the land drops away suddenly beyond the shoulder. Reflectors are often placed on guardrails alongside the roadway and in the lines between lanes. Landscaping along the road and in the median helps to reduce the monotony of a long drive.


Resources

Books

Borth, Christy. Mankind on the Move: The Story of Highways. Automotive Safety Federation, 1969.

Davies, Richard O. The Age of Asphalt. J. B. Lippincott Company, 1975.

Kilareski, Walter P. Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis. John Wiley & Sons, 1990.

Williams, Owen. How Roads Are Made. Facts on File Publications, 1989.


M. L. Cohen

KEY TERMS

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Asphalt

—A substance composed primarily of hydrocarbons found in nature or produced as a byproduct in petroleum refining; also refers to a road surface.

Grade

—A slope or inclination in a road.

Grade separation

—A crossing over or under a highway.

Interchange

—An intersection of two or more highways that allows the flow of traffic to occur without stopping or crossing the other traffic streams.

Ramp

—A section of roadway raising or lowering traffic from one level to second level used to allow the entrance or exiting of traffic to or from a freeway.

Right-of-way

—The width and length of land through which all structures of a freeway pass.

Tar

—A viscous liquid obtained by burning substances such as wood and coal that is used in the surfacing of roads and other structures requiring a waterproof seal.

Additional topics

Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Formate to GastropodaFreeway - Rise Of The Freeway, Features Of The Freeway, Safety Features - Construction of a freeway