Massachusetts
SHSP Key Components
Emphasis Areas
Engineering
Pursue research to test new approaches and identify new technologies for improving safety – including methods to screen and curb dangerous behaviors (e.g., drug impairment levels, testing tools).
Enforcement/Adjudication
Develop prospective pilots for automated enforcement for red light running, speed zones, and work zones.
Data
Expand data linkages to improve our understanding of risks related to serious crashes and opportunities for intervention.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Evaluate and identify how roadway safety-related violation structure incentivizes or disincentivizes dangerous driving behavior and develop recommendations for changes.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Identify, initiate, and prioritize systemic projects involving top-risk locations.
Identify, initiate, and prioritize systemic projects involving top-risk populations.
Data
Biannually update and disseminate information on locations and populations of top risk.
Engineering
Evaluate effectiveness.
Other
Address top crash locations.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Expand the use of roadway pilots.
Expand resources to municipalities.
Get more safety equipment into the hands of road users (e.g., bicycle lights, car seats).
Increase maintenance and operations.
Increase Road Safety Audits.
Develop, utilize, and provide guidance resources for effective selection and evaluation of improvements under both state and local jurisdictions.
Education
Expand internal state workforce training to engage the state workforce to raise awareness about the Safe System Approach and educate/train on how to implement it in their work.
Expand external trainings the state provides to amplify safety, Safe System, and best practices.
Provide a safe work environment for workers on roadways through increased training, education, awareness of incident management, and cutting-edge approaches.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Expand data-driven targeted enforcement and high visibility police presence.
Data
Improve accessibility and linkage of relevant safety-related data to professionals and the public.
Engineering
Implement proven safety countermeasures in all roadway projects.
Incident Management/EMS
Improve post-crash care through improving cell service coverage, implementing new trauma triage guidelines, increasing services for those involved in crashes, and increasing data linkages.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Develop new approaches, test to find what works, and implement a new type of comprehensive campaign that will have an impact on social norming/behavioral change on speeding, occupant protection, impairment, distraction, and seatbelts.
Establish a state plan to communicate safety – including how we want media to talk about crashes.
Education
Develop an educational opportunity when individuals interact with the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) to renew or obtain a license or ID so they can learn about safety advances including roadway design, multimodal mobility, signs, and signals.
Improve driver education and training for those under 18 and expand driver education for parent(s)/guardian(s) of those new drivers.
Improve driver education for new drivers over 18 years of age and provide refreshers for drivers transferring a license from another state.
Engineering
Evaluate and adjust operating speeds through roadway designs that are self-enforcing consistent with the new 2022 MassDOT speed management approach.
Develop and execute a procedure for target speed setting in all project types (e.g., roadway reconstruction, bridge, preservation, development, new roadways).
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Amend Massachusetts regulations related to speed (expand the definition of a school zone, adjust speed limit setting, modify statutory speeds).
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Identify opportunities for the state to champion safe vehicle designs and features to minimize injury severity with national, state, and local partners.