Mario Fiolić

As part of the traffic control plan, road markings form the traffic surface and provide visual guidance for road users. Since their first application to the present day, road markings have become a common element of road infrastructure and one of the basic low-cost safety measures. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the most significant academic activities to date regarding the influence of longitudinal and transverse road markings as well as road markings for hazard locations (curves, intersections, and rural-urban transitions) on driver’s behaviour and overall road safety. The review includes a total of 71 studies from which are 52 peer-reviewed journal studies, 4 conference proceedings, and 15 professional reports. The studies are, based on their aim, divided into two categories: (1) studies on the impact of road markings on driver behaviour (36 studies) and (2) studies on the impact of road markings on road safety (35 studies).

Road markings provide drivers with the information necessary for their comfortable and safe journey. To achieve that, they must be visible in all driving conditions, which means that they have to be renewed and maintained in a timely manner. This research aims to develop a model for predicting the service life of paint, thermoplastic and agglomerate cold plastic road markings. The research comprised 5218.00 km (115 roads) of solvent-borne paint road markings, 579.00 km (30 roads) of thermoplastic and 4979.00 km (30 roads) of agglomerate cold plastic road markings. The retroreflectivity of road markings was measured two times (after renewal and after winter) using the dynamic measuring method. Service life prediction model was developed for each material based on factors such as initial retroreflectivity, road marking age and position, annual average daily traffic and winter maintenance activity of the road. Developed models were tested using a new data set, and all three models showed satisfactory accuracy. The application of the model enables road authorities to optimise road-marking maintenance activities, while at the same time, ensuring the level of visibility required by drivers.