U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration

What’s New - March/April 2004

Fifth Annual National Work Zone Awareness Week

National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 4-10, 2004. A national press event will be held on Tuesday, April 6, at 10:00 a.m. in Springfield, Virginia.

Administrator Mary E. Peters will participate in the event by speaking from an outdoor desk that will be located next to Interstate 95 in Virginia. Ms. Peters will asks motorists to understand that the roadway is a workplace for hundreds of employees who toil, at great risk, to improve and expand the transportation network.

The 2004 poster reflects this theme, and a printable version is available on the safety web site, as well as a Fact Sheet.
Work Zone Safety Fact Sheet
Work Zone Safety Week Poster

For more information contact Timothy Barkley

Roadway Safety Tools for Local Agencies

Improving the safety of local roads is crucial for reducing highway deaths and injuries. Fatal crash rates are the highest on local roadways. A new NCHRP Synthesis 321, Roadway Safety Tools for Local Agencies, provides practical and flexible approaches to improve safety at the local level. To be successful, safety practices should be tailored to the problems and resources of each agency. There is no one-size-fits-all safety solution. The goal is to assist local agencies to become more effective safety organizations by applying the best and most appropriate tools to meet their needs. Its guiding principle is to examine tools and procedures that are practical, relatively easy to apply, and can be implemented by agencies with limited financial resources. Tools are defined as any ideas, practices, procedures, software, activities or actions beneficial in aiding local agencies to improve the safety of their roads and streets. User-friendly appendixes provide detailed information on each tool, its application, or references to additional information. NCHRP Synthesis 321 is available through the FHWA Product Distribution Center at 301-577-0818 or by fax at 301-577-1421.

Road Safety Audit Brochure Developed

FHWA Office of Safety, in cooperation with FHWA Safety Engineers from Indiana, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and the Resource Center, has developed a brochure on road safety audits. It contains information on the benefits, typical improvements, steps to conduct, keys to successful implementation, and resources. We are hoping this brochure can help market road safety audits to State and local agencies and Tribal Governments. For copies of the brochure, please contact Louisa Ward at Louisa.Ward@fhwa.dot.gov.

Crash-Tested Work Zone Traffic Control Devices

A PowerPoint presentation is available that summarizes the requirements for crash testing of traffic control devices in work zones. The presentation covers the four categories of devices 1) Cones, drums, delineators 2) barricades, temporary signing 3) barriers, crash cushions, TMAs, water-filled barriers/barricades 4) trailer-mounted devices. Category 1, 2, and 3 devices used on the National Highway System are required to meet NCHRP Report 350 criteria. Category 4 devices will be revisited in 2006. For an email or CD copy of the presentation, please contact Nicholas Artimovich in the Office of Safety Design at nick.artimovich@fhwa.dot.gov

Call for Papers for the 3rd International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design, June 2005, Chicago, Illinois.

The Symposium is being held to stimulate improvement of worldwide geometric design. Presentations, demonstrations, and discussions will focus on the latest research, policies, and practices for street and highway geometric design, including safety and operational effects.

Sponsors include: Transportation Research Board, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, American Society of Civil Engineers, World Road Association, Federal Highway Administration, International Road Federation, Institute of Transportation Engineers, National Association of County Engineers, Transportation Association of Canada.

A Call for Papers has been issued for papers on the latest research, policies and innovative practices related to street and highway geometric design, and to their safety and operational effects. The deadline is April 1, 2004, for electronic submission of one-page abstract to pdorothy@burnip.com. For more details, refer to http://gulliver.trb.org/conferences/GeoDesignSym/.
For more information contact Clayton Chen at (202) 366-4656 or clayton.chen@fhwa.dot.gov

Safe Mobility for a Maturing Society: Challenges and Opportunities

This report was developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation in concert with many professional and governmental groups. Based on regional forums, focus groups, conferences and stakeholder roundtables that were held over the last several years, the report presents a vision of safe transportation for the future. It identifies seven areas for improvement and lists specific strategies for implementation to improve safety for older road users and all road users. The report is on the DOT website at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/policy/data/safemobility.pdf

Targeting Highway Fatalities

Nationally, in 2002, there were 42,815 fatalities. Of these, 25, 241 were a result of roadway departure, 9,167 intersection-related, and 4,808 were pedestrians. Click here for a snapshot of where those fatalities occurred.
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/facts/stats2002/index.htm

News from Safety R&D

Two advanced research projects are investigating ways to collect accurate highway data at relatively low costs.

1. The Digital Highway Measurement Vehicle. Under the Digital Highway Measurement (DHM) project, the Advanced Research Team is developing an instrumented vehicle and associated software with increased resolution of measurements at levels that allows a systematic definition of the roadway geometry as built. These accurate measurements will allow assessment of health conditions of the road and roadside. This vehicle can collect three-dimensional geometry data of the highway at vehicle speeds of up to 60 mph. FHWA and PennDOT have agreed to explore a cooperative project on safety improvements for curves using this experimental vehicle. The road geometry data will be provided to the TFHRC Human Centered Systems Laboratory’s vehicle simulator for human subject testing. This test project may be the first time that accurate, real world, as built, roadway data has been used directly with a vehicle simulator. In an experiment with VDOT, the DHM will collect geometry data that will allow a real world, as built, IHSDM analysis of this corridor. In another experiment, the performance of the DHM will be evaluated in collaboration with Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division at the Smart Road in Blacksburg, Virginia.
   
2. The Ultra-Light Inertial Profiler. A novel Ultra-Light Inertial Profiler (ULIP) was proposed by Mark Swanlund of FHWA’s Office of Infrastructure as a potential system that would be used to fulfill two primary needs of the pavement smoothness program of FHWA: 1) develop a robust and efficient method of measuring certification sites for reference, and 2) develop an accurate low-speed device. The Prototype ULIP developed under an Advanced Research contract with Starodub used a SEGWAY Human Transporter (HT) equipped with triggers, a laser, and accelerometers. The HT was selected because it has speed controls and minimal pitch variations during motion. In addition, it has little relative motion with respect to the pavement. The first field tests were conducted at a medium-smooth certification test site in northern Virginia (NOVA) on January 6, 2004. Three successful and consecutive runs were made on the 1128’ section after eight trial attempts. The development of a second generation ULIP is being initiated. This unit will use an improved design and is expected to be more reliable with improved performance. The new and improved ULIP will be completed in early 2005.

If you have questions about FHWA’s advanced research program, please contact Milton “Pete” Mills (202-493-3338) or Mort Oskard (202-493-3339).

2004 EVENTS AND MEETINGS

For a complete listing of FHWA Safety Programs and Resources Visit our website at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov

 

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