Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. An extensive body of traffic safety literature explores the roadway design and behavioral contributors to fatal and serious injury crashes. Within this literature, there has been a growing recognition that some populations are significantly more likely to be killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes. In particular, various analyses have demonstrated stark overrepresentation of Black and indigenous people and people with low incomes. These differences in health and safety outcomes across sociodemographic categories are referred to as health disparities, or health inequities, and they are preventable. 

Recently, the transportation safety field led a paradigm shift in its approach to address the crisis of roadway fatalities and serious injuries on the Nation’s highways, roads, and streets. Agencies across the country, including the U. S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), adopted a bold goal of zero deaths. To achieve the goals of zero deaths and safety for all users, agencies are implementing the Safe System Approach (SSA), a human-centered framework that refocuses transportation system design and operation on anticipating human mistakes and diminishing impact forces (i.e., kinetic energy transfer) to reduce crash severity for all road users. Its key tactics include separating users in space (e.g., sidewalks and separated bike lanes) and time (e.g., pedestrian hybrid beacons and leading pedestrian intervals (LPIs) with accessible pedestrian signals (APSs)), managing kinetic energy transfer (e.g., setting appropriate speed limits), and increasing attentiveness and awareness of road users (e.g., street lights and rumble strips). Implementing the SSA also requires improving safety culture and increasing collaboration among many stakeholders. Although the SSA was not initially founded with an embedded framework to address transportation inequities or racial injustice, equitable implementation approaches have been shown to reduce crash risk for all communities.

Achieving zero deaths requires transportation professionals to better understand all contributors to roadway fatalities and serious injuries. An equity-informed approach, which meaningfully identifies and addresses institutional and infrastructural risk factors that contribute to traffic fatalities and serious injuries, is essential for the effective implementation of SSA tactics to ultimately achieve the goal of zero deaths. 

FHWA produces resources for transportation practitioners to implement strategies and tools to make meaningful progress towards zero deaths. 

• READ NEW REPORT: Exploring Risk Factors to Disparities in Pedestrian and Bicyclist Fatalities and Serious Injuries 
  • This report is a useful resource for transportation professionals and other stakeholders interested in addressing road safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. The report includes:
    • A scoping review of institutional decision making and infrastructural risk factors that contribute to disparities in roadway safety outcomes across five sociodemographic categories: socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, age, disability, and gender. 
    • Seven new case studies featuring promising practices implemented by State, regional, and local transportation agencies and organizations across the country to address these disparities on the way to achieving the complimentary goals of zero deaths from traffic crashes and safe, reliable, and affordable transportation for all people. 
    • Four proven practices with actionable steps for practitioners to implement and future research topics for researchers to explore. 
  • Read the report here: https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/FHWA-HRT-25-035.pdf 
  • Share the flyer here: https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/FHWA-HRT-25-043.pdf
• REGISTER FOR NEW WEBINARS: Roadway Safety Webinar Series
• READ CASE STUDY: FHWA Case Study on Promising Practices to Address Road Safety among People Experiencing Homelessness
  • You can read more about the promising practices discussed in our 2024 webinar in the newly published case study: Promising Practices for Transportation Agencies to Address Road Safety among People Experiencing Homelessness

Other Resources: 

• NEW FHWA REPORT: A systemic Safety Study of Pedestrians in Tribal Areas 
  • This report offers a suite of tools and resources designed to assist in identifying high-risk areas, selecting appropriate countermeasures, and prioritizing improvements to reduce pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries in Tribal areas.
  • Read the Report here: https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/FHWA-HRT-25-042.pdf 
• Equity in Transportation Public Roads Magazine
• Integrating Equity into the Safe System Approach Presentation 
• Noteworthy Practices: 
  • California: Integrating the Safe System Approach and Equity into California’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan
  • Minnesota: MnDOT’s SPACE Tool: Using Equity Data to Inform Active Transportation Safety
  • San Francisco: Equity Approaches for Vision Zero
  • Virginia: “E is for Everybody”: Using Equity to Prioritize Pedestrian Safety Projects and Make the Case for Greater State Funding
• FHWA Title VI of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Additional Nondiscrimination Requirements
• FHWA Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504)
• FHWA Equity in Transportation for Planners
• Equity at US DOT