# Impact of Putting on Traffic Safety: A Synthesis of Research Findings
###### Abstract  
Quantifying the impact of rutting on traffic safety contributes to the development of objective models for evaluating pavement performance. However, the existing literature shows significant discrepancies in the impact of rutting on traffic safety. To this end, this study analyzed about 40 studies to comprehensively understand the impact of rutting on traffic safety in field observations and simulation studies. This study analyzed the influence of ten factors that may impact the relationship between rutting and traffic safety, such as weather, speed, and road type. It also established rutting limits and developed machine learning-based prediction models for accident rates caused by rutting under varying conditions. These findings reveal distinct trends, with simulation studies generally suggesting a higher impact of rutting on safety compared to field observations. This discrepancy is attributed to the limitations of simulation models in capturing human factors, such as drivers' ability to anticipate and adjust their behavior to mitigate risks. These results provide valuable insights for highway agencies and policymakers to develop more accurate rut limits and maintenance guidelines. These results also underscore the importance of considering rutting in the development of autonomous vehicles to ensure effective handling of rutting under varying conditions. This study highlights the need for more comprehensive field studies using larger datasets that account for various environmental and traffic factors. Additionally, integrating real-world driver behavior into simulation models could improve their accuracy. r +
Footnote †: journal: applied sciences  
article  
[color=gray!20,][color=gray! particular, the impact of nuts on traffic safety has been a focus of multiple studies in the past few decades [8; 9; 10; 11]. Researchers have identified multiple traffic safety risks associated with the presence of nuts on road pavements. The accumulation of water in nuts reduces the skid resistance and increases the risk of hydroplaning [10]. Loss of control when a vehicle is steered out of a rut constitutes another safety concern [10]. Attempting to avoid the rut can also lead to loss of control [12]. Moreover, during rainy seasons, the spray from other vehicles may reduce visibility for pedestrians and vehicles, causing distractions [12]. However, nuts may also contribute to speed reduction on roads, potentially reducing the occurrence of crashes when they are visible [10; 13]. Nevertheless, this may not hold true during night-time driving or when nuts are obscured by water ponds or on curved roads [10]. Subsequently, multiple studies have reported a prominent impact of nutting on the accident risk [14; 15]. On the contrary, other studies concluded that the accident risk is generally independent of nutting in road pavements [8; 9; 10; 11; 16]. Therefore, quantifying the impact of nutting on traffic safety under varying conditions remains a challenging task. The impact of nutting on traffic safety has been a subject of debate for many years, stemming from three main complexities. Firstly, drivers have the ability to adapt to changes in pavement conditions by adjusting their speed and exercising caution, which can influence the perceived impact of nutting. Secondly, various factors, such as the dryness or wetness of the pavement surface, driving speed, traffic volume, clarity of the nutting, and types of vehicles, interact with nutting to affect traffic safety differently. Thirdly, the scarcity of adequate open-access databases limits researchers' ability to conduct comprehensive analyses of nutting's impact on traffic safety. The lack of consensus on the effect of nutting on traffic safety may hinder the adoption of safety as a quantitative and objective method for pavement performance assessment. Therefore, it is important to identify the sources of these discrepancies to strive for a more comprehensive understanding of nutting's effects on traffic safety.