Strategic Highway Research Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life -- Special Report 260 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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5 Safety: Making a Significant Improvement in Highway Safety
5 Safety: Making a Significant Improvement in Highway Safety
Pages 71-97
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From page 71... ...
Significant improvements have been made in highway safety during the last several decades. From 1988 to 1999, for example, the number of highway fatalities dropped from 47,087 to 41,611, an 11.6 percent decline, and the fatality rate in deaths per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled (VMT)
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From page 72... ...
. These improvements in turn are the result of federal and state legislation and applied safety research carried out by federal and state agencies, universities, and industry.
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Figure 5-2 Highway fatalities, injuries, and fatality and injury rates, 19881999 (NHTSA 2000, Table 2)
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From page 74... ...
The committee received many suggestions for safety-related research during the outreach process. After consultation with safety experts, the committee identified two knowledge gaps whose remediation through appropriate research would help the highway safety community use many existing countermeasures more effectively and potentially develop improved countermeasures as well.
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From page 75... ...
Meeting the Highway Safety Challenge Through a Future Strategic Highway Research Program How highway safety meets the first of the criteria set forth in Chapter 1 for selecting the strategic focus areas for F-SHRP was described in the preceding section: it is an issue that bears on national transportation goals and is of con
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From page 76... ...
At the same time, both the ultimate goal -- a significant improvement in highway safety -- and the specific path chosen toward that goal -- a comprehensive study of crash factors and the cost-effectiveness of countermeasures -- are appropriate focuses of public-sector concern and resources. This is true for several reasons: the vast majority of highways are publicly owned; safety on the highways is a significant public health issue;2 and longer-term, higher-risk research such as this is a traditional responsibility of the public sector.
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From page 77... ...
However, these barriers, too, should be surmountable given the importance of the problem; the results obtained on the cost-effectiveness of specific countermeasures; and the existence of potential implementation mechanisms, such as the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan3 and the highway safety manual currently being initiated by NCHRP. The highway safety research community has never conducted a study of this type.
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From page 78... ...
More Accurate Knowledge of Crash Factors The issue of what constitutes a crash factor is complicated. While such factors are sometimes referred to as causal factors, limitations in the research design of traditional crash analysis studies (as discussed in this section)
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Vehicle designer: · Cause of injury: design of headrest in older driver's vehicle (new ones prevent such injury) ; poor design of younger driver's vehicle with respect to knee clearance and deformation process.
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From page 80... ...
Nonetheless, a comprehensive study of crash factors performed by a multidisciplinary team (representing human factors, traffic engineering, vehicle design, roadway design, enforcement, and other disciplines) , using the most accurate data and most scientifically rigorous research design currently available, can greatly improve decision making with regard to highway safety.
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From page 81... ...
To remedy this situation and provide the strongest possible intellectual basis for designing and implementing effective safety strategies, the proposed study of crash factors must have the following characteristics: · A statistically significant, representative sample of all vehicles; · Analysis of fatal, injury, and property damageonly crashes; · A control of noncrash circumstances to measure exposure in the driving population; and · New and more precise data about precrash circumstances and actions. These characteristics are discussed in turn below.
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From page 82... ...
Better knowledge of the role of various crash factors would then lead to much more effective design and implementation of safety policies and programs, helping highway safety professionals choose countermeasures that address the truly critical crash factors rather than factors that accompany crashes but may not be the most significant contributors to crash occurrence or severity. New and More Precise Data About Precrash Circumstances and Actions Most existing information about crashes consists of the observable data after a crash, such as the type of crash, the nature and extent of damage to the vehicle, and the injuries sustained.
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From page 83... ...
Those developing the research design should fully consider the possibilities offered by these technologies. Event Data Recorders EDRs make it possible for researchers to gather objective data about certain precrash and crash conditions.
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From page 84... ...
Human Vehicle Environment Belt use Speed Conditions during Precrash Steering Antilock brake system crash Braking Other controls Crash pulse Airbag data Measured velocity Crash Location Pretensioners Yaw Airbag activation time Environment after Injury Collision damage collision Postcrash Automatic collision Automatic collision Automatic collision notification notification notification (b) Haddon matrix with enhanced event data recording capability.a aThe capabilities shown do not necessarily reflect what is currently recorded by in-vehicle EDRs, but what the devices could potentially record if designed to do so.
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From page 85... ...
This legal protection also serves as a safeguard for the integrity of the research because individuals are less likely to provide inaccurate data to avoid a potential personal threat. In the case of the proposed study of crash factors, this means drivers will be less likely to modify their driving behavior to avoid getting into trouble, so researchers will be able to obtain a more accurate picture of their behavior.8 A possible mechanism for this purpose is to apply for a Certificate of Confidentiality that the Department of Health and Human Services is authorized to issue.
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From page 86... ...
Such technologies could provide objective data about whether and to what degree these driver conditions and activities contribute to crashes and would be especially useful for gathering exposure data. By the time the proposed study is launched, these technologies will have seen several more generations of development.
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In choosing countermeasures, researchers should examine the incidence of fatalities and injuries from various crash types and identify countermeasures intended to address these crash types. By using data from the study of crash factors, researchers should be able to identify countermeasures that are designed to address the most critical factors and then perform analyses of their relative cost-effectiveness.
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From page 88... ...
The use of GPS can help identify crash locations with much greater accuracy. More accurate crash location data can also allow researchers to see exactly what pavement marking, signage, guardrail, and other traffic control and safety appurtenances and roadside objects are at the scene.
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From page 89... ...
More accurate data on speed not only could be used to design better roadside hardware, but also could affect geometric design, signage, traffic control devices, and enforcement strategies. More accurate data on crash locations would allow researchers to compare crash severity at locations with various geometric designs and under use of different countermeasures, such as the design and placement of guardrails or crash attenuators.
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From page 90... ...
The committee recognizes that the research cannot address the entire universe of possible crash types, crash factors, and crash countermeasures. However, the human suffering and economic burden resulting from highway crashes warrants something significantly more than continued small-scale, incremental improvement.
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If this is not possible, such a pilot study would be the first task under the formal research program. Other broad tasks within the study, pending development of a detailed plan, are as follows: · Conduct of the study -- This task will be accomplished using whatever suite of research methods is determined to be appropriate in the detailed research plan.
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. Appropriate analyses will be performed on the data to address these questions and develop conclusions about the relative contributions of various crash factors in certain crash types and the cost-effectiveness of selected countermeasures.
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· The development of prototype countermeasures under the proposed program should be closely coordinated with related ongoing safety research being conducted by NCHRP, state DOTs, universities, and industry.
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Emphasis is placed on making a concerted effort to implement proven highway safety strategies and on conducting some model development and demonstration of emerging strategies in 22 key emphasis areas. The plan does not identify long-term knowledge gaps or research needs; however, the implementation of proven strategies builds on historical safety research, and the model development and demonstration effort requires the support of existing safety research programs at FHWA, NCHRP, and state DOTs.
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From page 95... ...
Researchers engaged in improving existing countermeasures or in developing new ones could benefit from data about crash factors. In general, the research program staff should maintain regular contact with safety professionals within state and local agencies to keep them abreast of the program as it develops and to obtain their input in the development of prototype countermeasures.
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From page 96... ...
Department of Transportation GAO General Accounting Office TRB Transportation Research Board AASHTO. Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
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From page 97... ...
1990. Special Report 229: Safety Research for a Changing Highway Environment.
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