Quality data are the foundation for making important decisions regarding the design, operation, and safety of roadways.  By incorporating roadway and traffic data into safety analysis procedures, States can better identify safety problems and prescribe solutions to support their HSIPs and implement their SHSPs.

The FHWA understands that States and local DOTs are facing increasing demands and decreasing resources.  This report provides background information on specific safety data elements that are fundamental to support HSIP, resources on how to collect those elements, and how much it will cost to collect these data.  A new generation of safety analysis tools and methods is being developed to help identify safety issues and provide recommendations for improvements.  These safety analysis tools all 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.

This report aims to provide States a framework for moving forward in collecting safety data, incorporating them into their HSIPs, and, ultimately, achieving the goal of reducing fatalities and serious injuries on the Nation’s roadways.  FHWA will continue to work with its partners in States, other Federal agencies, and the research community to update the current understanding and state of practice as more information is available and better methods are developed.