Abstract Manager

Run-off-road collisions are going unnoticed, obscured from the view of passersby due to factors such as steep side slopes, bodies of water, and dense foliage. Consequently, road-users are disappearing, perishing, and first-responders are being misplaced or are unable to act. Current literature does not address the hazard of limited roadside visibility, and the extent of it’s impact, by nature, cannot be fully known.

A case study of a North Saanich couple who were reported missing in August of 2019 is explored. Tragically, the couple was found deceased forty feet from the highway, down a steep embankment and just out of sight from their families and the police officers who drove past them daily. Through analyzing the design elements and topography of a roadside’s cross-section, this study demonstrates which run-off-road collisions may become hidden, and where. A map of such locations is compiled to assist authorities, Search & Rescue operations, and families in locating victims of this hazard, as well as to quantify the scope of the associated risk.

This research finds that, due to many factors, run-off-road collisions are easily concealable, and the number of these locations is significant. Not only are lives being lost unnecessarily, but the cost to communities is substantial.           

When locations with limited roadside visibility are charted, search parties are provided a strategic vantage point for rescue and recovery, cost estimates of future roadside safety treatments capable of collision detection are more accurately derived, and first-responders are enabled to act in a more efficient manner. This approach can help mitigate the severity of roadside collisions, save lives, protect the environment, and significantly reduce the economic costs to communities.