Road Safety Improvement Program – Garfield County, WA

Despite a commitment to work with Federal and State Agencies to make roadway safety a top priority and move “Towards Zero Deaths” (TZD), Garfield County, WA lacked a data-driven, systematic process for identifying and addressing crash patterns and safety improvement needs on the county roadway network. This was of particular concern for Garfield County, which is a small rural jurisdiction with limited resources to invest in capital projects. Fully committing to goals set forth for the TZD initiative required establishment of a plan that identified feasible goals, applicable countermeasures, and efficient processes to prioritize investments.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Honorable Mention)

Pedestrian Safety Action Plan

Pedestrian safety is a major concern in Virginia. Between 2012 and 2016, over 450 pedestrians died and over 8,000 were injured while walking along or across Virginia’s public roads. Over 90 percent of Virginia’s pedestrian crashes occur when the pedestrian is crossing the street. More than half (62% of crashes) occur at mid-block pedestrian crossings.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Data- and Technology-Driven Strategic Guardrail Management Program

In Virginia, approximately two thirds of fatalities are the result of roadway departure crashes. Various national research studies indicate that having appropriate guardrail can produce a crash reduction factor of up to 40 percent for roadway departure crashes. Therefore, the repair, replacement, and/or upgrade of guardrail systems is critical to the safety of the traveling public.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

“Alert Today Florida” Bicycle/Pedestrian Initiative

Based on crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Florida had the highest pedestrian and bicyclist fatality rates in the US from 2008-2011. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is a major concern and has been elevated to one of the highest priorities in Florida.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Application of High-Friction Surface Treatment in Winter Road Conditions

High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST) has been used widely across the US to treat road departure crashes at horizontal curves with wet road conditions as a contributing factor. However, South Dakota has five times more roadway departure crashes involving winter road conditions than wet road conditions, and discovered that HFST had not been tested as a treatment for this crash type. Moreover, one third of roadway departure crashes occur on horizontal curves, even though horizontal curves account for less than 10 percent of the system.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Wrong-Way Driving Detection System

From 2004-2014, 91 people were killed in wrong-way crashes across Arizona. In the two years 2015 and 2016, the number of serious injuries and fatalities due to wrong-way drivers more than doubled, from 16 to 37, and amplified media attention brought new public concern to the issue. The crashes were following patterns—75 percent were occurring at night, most collisions occurred in left lanes between the hours of 10 P.M. and 3 A.M., and about 75 percent of the drivers were impaired. Highway safety officials realized more had to be done to reduce the risk associated with wrong-way drivers.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

US 63 Road Safety Assessment and Safety Improvements

In 2012, three at-grade intersections along US 63—a four-lane expressway in central Missouri—were identified for improvements by a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, technicians, law enforcement officers, and others who were performing Road Safety Assessments (RSA) on the route between Columbia, MO and the Iowa state border. The three intersections to be improved were those with the highest crash severity of the 11 initially studied: at Hinton Road north of Columbia in Boone County, Routes B and P near Clark in Randolph County, and Route M near Atlanta in Macon County. Among the numerous severe-injury crashes at these locations were four fatal collisions that took place prior to the sites being upgraded.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

East-West Gateway (EWG) Council of Governments (COG) Sets Performance Targets to Reduce Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries

Background

The East-West Gateway (EWG) Council of Governments (COG) has set performance targets to reduce the number of non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries and actively works to meet the targets.

MPO, State DOT, and Regional Planning Commission Create Regional Coalition to Combat High-Driving Behaviors in Birmingham, AL Area

Background

A major focus of the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization’s regional safety plan is to improve driver behavior on the region’s roadways.

Hillsborough MPO Vision Zero Action Plan Incorporates Multidisciplinary Approach to Safety Improvements

Background

The Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) developed the Vision Zero Action Plan to incorporate safety planning into its operations. The MPO took a multidisciplinary approach to safety improvements.