Using Risk to Drive Safety Investments

In the past, the method of improving road safety has been to perform site analysis, a method in which safety upgrades are made at locations with a higher than expected number of crashes. Site analysis has led to a drop in the number of locations of fatal crashes, as well as a drop in the number of crashes overall. However, motor vehicle crashes continue to be distributed widely, with few individual locations with high numbers. An alternative system that departments of transportation have been adopting is the “systemic” approach, which identifies road locations which are of the highest risk for crashes based on roadway features and prioritizing those spots. The systemic approach identifies high-risk locations that site analysis would not, since site analysis focuses on those locations with a history of crashes. In order to emphasize the use of the systemic approach, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool, which outlines steps for strategic highway safety plans to help identify high-risk road characteristics. The tool is flexible and easy to use. It will adapt to a variety of systems, locations, and crash types. The FHWA Office of Safety has made the tool available for download online.

• Record URL:
  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13mayjun/03.cfm
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1586080
• Authors:
  • Preston, Howard
  • Storm, Richard
  • Scurry, Karen
  • Wemple, Beth
• Publication Date: 2013-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Serial:
  • Public Roads
  • Volume: 76
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration
  • ISSN: 0033-3735
  • Serial URL: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash risk forecasting; Crashes; High risk locations; Highway safety; Strategic planning
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01488547
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 2013 7:58AM