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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation
FHWA Highway Safety Programs

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Roadway departure fatalities account for approximately 65 percent of all traffic-related fatalities in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) established a safety goal for reducing the number of annual roadway fatalities within the State to no more than 700 by the end of 2008. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's (KYTC) tentative updated goal was to reduce fatalities from 2008 levels by 15 percent by 2012. The agency merged a data analysis package, along with a set of roadway departure countermeasures, to identify a set of cost-effective countermeasures, deployment levels, and the funds needed to achieve the 15 percent roadway departure fatality reduction goal.

Highway safety starts with the driver's ability to control the vehicle.

One of the methods KYTC identified to meet the roadway departure goal was the application of high friction surface treatments (HFST). HFST provides a durable and long-lasting solution to specific and defined roadway locations where a contributing factor in crashes is that the roadway friction demand exceeds the available pavement surface friction; HFST is more than a pavement resurfacing, it is a safety countermeasure.

Experience and data from Kentucky show HFST can be used where most needed, such as on ramps and freeways, two-lane urban or rural roads at horizontal curves, areas near steep grades, areas at or near lane changes, and rural and urban intersections. More importantly, Kentucky's HFST program is considered a major success and is one of the techniques or methods used to achieve the goal of reducing the number of roadway departures and fatalities in Kentucky.

This document provides an overview of Kentucky's efforts to establish an HFST program for reducing roadway departure crashes and fatalities as well as the State's standards, guidance, and specifications for using this safety treatment strategy as a practice to reduce roadway departures at select road sections. It also identifies and discusses the various elements to consider when selecting candidate roadway segments for placing HFSTs and lists some of the important insights and lessons learned from the Kentucky program.