Evaluating the effects of supplemental rest areas on freeway crashes caused by drowsy driving

To prevent crashes caused by drowsy driving, supplemental rest areas have been installed in the South Korean freeway system to allow road users to rest. These supplemental rest areas are very small-sized resting facilities located between the larger regular rest areas, which is a unique design. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the supplemental rest areas on reducing crashes caused by drowsy driving. Between 2011 and 2012, supplemental rest areas were first installed in the Gyeongbu Freeway, which was selected as the study area for this study. The first 160km and 178km stretches of the southbound and northbound lanes, respectively, of the Gyeongbu Freeway were considered the reference areas. For both the southbound and northbound lanes, the downstream stretch of the Gyeongbu Freeway was considered the treatment area where the supplemental rest areas were installed. Based on a negative binomial regression of the crashes estimated in the reference and treatment areas, an empirical Bayes approach was employed to quantitatively validate the effects of the supplemental rest areas on reducing crashes caused by drowsy driving. The results showed that the supplemental rest areas reduced freeway crashes caused by drowsy driving by 14%. The supplemental rest areas were most effective in reducing drowsy driving related crashes particularly in freeway sections with 2 or 3 travel lanes or with ramps. As the first data-driven study evaluating the effects of these supplemental rest areas, the results imply that supplemental rest areas provide more opportunities to avoid drowsy driving, and, therefore they should be encouraged for freeways as cost-effective safety improvement facilities.