Federal Highway Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh St. SW
Washington, DC 20590

July 28, 2003

Refer to: HOTO-1

Mr. Howard P. Wood
ITS Program Manager
Ohio Department of Transportation

Dear Mr. Wood:

Thank you for your June 26 e-mail requesting permission to experiment with a new incident management symbol sign that informs motorists to move damaged vehicles to the shoulder rather than allowing the vehicle to remain in the travel lanes and block traffic. This experimentation would evaluate the effectiveness of a combination symbol and word message sign intended for use in clearing through lanes of vehicles involved in minor crashes. Your request to experiment has been assigned the following official ruling number and title: Request 2-537(E)–Incident Management Fender Bender Symbol Sign." Please refer to this number in future correspondence.

Your request has been reviewed and found to be consistent with the guidelines detailed in Section 1A.10 of the MUTCD. Your request to experiment is approved subject to receipt of the following:

1. Before the experimentation is initiated, requirement "G" of the experimentation procedure detailed in Section 1A.10 of the MUTCD must be satisfied by the development and submission of a "detailed research or evaluation plan". An assessment of motorist understanding of the symbol shall be part of this research and evaluation plan.
2. Since the application of the experimental signs is intended for freeways, the legend size for the word message portion should be 6 inches minimum and 8 inches is preferred.

We look forward to receiving the above mentioned information along with notification of implementation dates. Your semiannual progress reports and final report will also be anticipated. To expedite the process, you may fax the additional information to 202-366-3225 and be sure to reference the official ruling number

If you have questions or wish additional information, please feel free to call Mr. Fred Ranck, Safety/Design Engineer, Federal Highway Administration’s Resource Center at Olympia Fields, Illinois. His telephone number is 708-283-3545.

Sincerely yours,

Vincent P. Pearce
Acting Director, Office of Transportation
Operations

FHWA:HOTO-1:FRanck/LBrown:ds:
Revised:LindaBrown
cc: HOTO-1 HOTO-1(FRanck/LBrown)
Mr. Jim Buckson, Columbus, OH, FHWA HDA-OH
Mr. Bob Garrett, NCUTCD Mr. Roger Wentz, ATSSA
Mr. Jim Baron, ATSSA All Resource Centers HDA-OR(2)
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