In 2009, 33,808 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the total societal cost of crashes exceeds $230 billion annually (2). The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which was signed into law on August 10, 2005, established the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) as a core Federal-aid program. The overall objective of the HSIP is to significantly reduce the occurrence of and the potential for fatalities and serious injuries resulting from crashes on all public roads. A major stipulation of the program is that “The HSIP shall include a data driven [Strategic Highway Safety Plan] SHSP and the resulting implementation through highway safety improvement projects” (1). Safety data are not limited to crash data only. A comprehensive traffic records system necessary to support a robust safety program includes crash, roadway, traffic, vehicle, driver, citation and adjudication, and injury control/emergency medical services (EMS) data.
Title 23 - Code of Federal Regulations, Part 924 on the Highway Safety Improvement Program (23 CRF 924) provides information on how safety data should be used (1). However, there are no details on specific data elements that State agencies should be collecting, maintaining, and using to support their HSIPs and SHSPs. In 2011, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety released a guidance memorandum on the fundamental roadway and traffic data elements that States should be collecting and incorporating into their safety analyses to support their HSIP and on what roadways they should be collected. The purpose of this report is to provide background information on why and how the guidance was developed, estimates of the costs of data collection, safety analysis tools and methods, and performance measures that should be considered and implemented to achieve quality safety data.
Quality data are the foundation for making important decisions regarding the design, operation, and safety of roadways. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the roadway and traffic components of traffic records systems. By incorporating roadway and traffic data into safety analysis procedures, States can better identify safety problems and prescribe solutions to support their HSIP and implement their SHSP.
A new generation of safety analysis tools and methods has been developed to help identify safety problems and to determine needed improvements. These safety analysis tools include the Highway Safety Manual (HSM), SafetyAnalyst, and the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM). These tools require quality roadway, traffic, and crash data to achieve the most accurate results. Using roadway and traffic data together with crash data can help agencies to make decisions that are fiscally responsible and to improve the safety of the roadways for all users.