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Safety Compass NewsletterDownloadable Version
PDF [746 KB] Highway Safety Solutions for Saving LivesA Publication of the Federal Highway Administration Safety Program March/April/May '08, Issue 2, Volume 2 In This Issue Safety Compass Newsletter A publication of the Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration The Safety Compass newsletter is published for internet distribution quarterly by the: FHWA Offiice of Safety 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room E71 Washington, DC 20590 The Safety Compass can also be viewed at: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov Managing and Editor-in Chief Timothy Barkley timothy.barkley@dot.gov Editor Marie Roybal marie.roybal@dot.gov Your comments and highway safety related articles are welcomed. This newsletter is intended to be a source to increase highway safety awareness, information and provide resources to help save lives. You are encouraged to submit highway safety articles that might be of value to the highway safety community. Send your comments, questions and articles for review (electronically) to: timothy.barkley@dot.gov. Please review guidelines for article submittals. If you would like to be included on the distribution list to receive your free issues, please send your email address to: timothy.barkley@dot.gov.
Welcome to this quarter's edition of the Safety Compass. We have once again compiled an issue packed with useful information on tools and success stories to help the safety community build effective highway safety programs. I continue to encourage all of you to submit information on your success stories and experiences, to help all of us improve our safety programs and reduce crashes and fatalities. Our feature story this issue recognizes the success experienced by Missouri in that State's efforts to reduce highway fatalities. As you know, making significant improvements in highway safety is no easy task. But Missouri's approach - which combines setting an aggressive goal, leadership commitment, and implementation of a comprehensive set of safety improvements and countermeasures - resulted in the achievement of their fatality reduction goal a full year ahead of a schedule that some said couldn't be met. Missouri's approach can be used successfully in other States and localities. I encourage you to read about this impressive success story and think about how to achieve similar success wherever you work.
Jeffrey Lindley FHWA Associate Administrator for Safety Missouri Reaches Fatality Reduction Goal - One Year Early
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This issue also includes stories on work zone safety, consideration of safety in the planning process, cable median barrier, road safety audits, and reducing alcohol involved fatalities, in addition to our regular features. As always, please share the Safety Compass with others in your organization and let us know if you have any suggestions for improving its content and format. Likewise, if you have thoughts about actions the FHWA Office of Safety can take to support your efforts to improve highway safety, please share those as well. 
NATIONAL ROADWAY SAFETY AWARD WINNER
Drs. Plaxico and Miehle of the Battelle Memorial Institute described their efforts to enhance an FE model of a tractor-trailer truck and to validate it. Their efforts have focused on enhancing the suspension and steering components of the vehicle model, updating the material properties for some elements to improve the comparisons test data, and creating variations of the model. The variations will provide models that refl ect some of the different types of tractors and trailers currently on the road. For example, day cab and sleeper cab versions have been created and trailers of different lengths (40 to 53 foot) have been modeled. Part of this was motivated by the FE community’s interest in comparing model results to the few full scale crash tests that have been conducted for validation purposes. Drs. Marzougui and Kan of George Washington University described efforts underway at the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) to develop new vehicle models. They described the efforts begun last March to reverse engineer a 2007 Chevy Silverado Quad Cab pickup truck. The NCAC conducted a series of non-destructive tests of this vehicle to capture various inertial and suspension response data for subsequent validation of the model. They noted that the reverse engineering process utilized a laser scanning device to capture the precise geometry of the vehicle’s parts. This has allowed the process to be completed faster than ever before. It was noted that the validated model is expected to be released in May 2008. Dr. Ray of Worchester Polytechnic Institute described efforts that he is leading to recommend standards for verifi cation and validation of FE models under an NCHRP project. He noted that comparison measures have been identified, and an approach based upon a Potential Importance Ranking Table (PIRT) for each model is being formulated. The PIRT table would identify the various components and order them based upon consensus of their importance to the application of the model. He noted that he would be working with the roadside safety community to solicit feedback on their recommendations over the next two years.  These presentations set the stage for lively discussions future vehicle modeling, the optimal characteristics of vehicle models, and protocols for creating “reduced models,” and the vehicles that should be modeled in the future. The discussion of future vehicle models reviewed the changing character of the vehicle fl eet noting the swings back and forth in vehicle size and weight. Proposed updates to the roadside hardware crashworthiness standards that are going through the approval process were developed, in part, because the vehicle types defi ned in NCHRP 350 are no longer produced or have been eclipsed by larger vehicles. The ramifi cations of “microcars,” a possible emerging trend, were discussed. This mini-workshop was adjourned after about six hours to allow participants some extra time to get to the airport or on the road in the face of an intense snow storm. They did fi nd time, despite the snow, to take a tour of the Federal Outdoor Impact Lab (FOIL). For more information, contact: Safe Roads for a Safer Future |
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INTERNATIONAL SAFETY ACTIVITIES - U.S. AND ABROAD
Past and Present:
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The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Israel National Roads Company. Following execution of the agreement, a work plan for collaboration between the parties was developed. Safety topic areas include approval processes for safety products, safety management policies and procedures, safety audits, and safety research. Contact Michael Halladay, FHWA at michael.halladay@dot.gov
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A debate on road safety was held at the Embassy of France in Washington, DC. This event was held to raise awareness about road safety issues within the European Union (EU) and the U.S., and to identify possible solutions. The Deputy Secretary of Transportation, Vice Admiral Thomas J. Barrett, was one of the guest speakers. He emphasized the need for close transatlantic cooperation in order to tackle a major problem with common causes in the United States and Europe. He also stated that the U.S. and the EU have long cooperated on road safety and other transport issues and will continue to do so. The debate report quotes him as saying “When it comes to road safety, we view technology as a very promising and key component of our strategy. We know we can save more lives as new technologies emerge, so we must keep moving forward.” Safety experts from the Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration were among the guests who attended the debate. Contact Jeffrey Lindley at: jeffrey.lindley@dot.gov
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FHWA’s Administrator J. Richard Capka met with David Ward, Director General of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Foundation, and T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, North American Director, Make Roads Safe and Director, FIA Foundation, to share information about FHWA’s safety efforts and the Highways for Life program. Mr. Ward and Ms. Dinh-Zarr shared information about their organization and discussed key roadway safety initiatives. The FIA Foundation is a charity registered in the United Kingdom that exists to promote road safety and sustainable mobility. As part of the Foundation’s efforts, it funded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Injury Report (http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/road_traffic/world_report/en/index.html) and is funding the International Road Assessment Program (http://www.fiafoundation.com/policy/road_safety/news/world_bank_irap_sign_working_agreement.html). It is a founding member of a new Global Alliance for EcoMobility (www.ecomobility.org/) which promotes non-motorized modes of transport and the use of public transportation. Make Roads Safe is an international campaign for global road safety. The campaign aims to raise public and political awareness of global road traffic injuries (http://www.makeroadssafe.org/). Contact Michael Halladay, FHWA at: michael.halladay@dot.gov
Future:
A U.S. scan will be conducted in Australia and Japan during February-March 2008 to collect information
from overseas countries with the potential to improve roadway safety for older road users, and consequently all
roadway users, in the U.S.
This scan is co-sponsored by FHWA, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Offi cials (AASHTO), and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Scan members representing FHWA, AASHTO, academia and U.S. public and private sector professional associations will explore topics of interest, including infrastructure-based international best practices that could be applied in the near term on U.S. roadways, policy approaches to improving infrastructure to better meet the needs and capabilities of older road users, safety research collaboration opportunities between international and U.S. transportation research centers, and ways to improve U.S. and international practices for long-term transportation planning for older road users. Contact Beth Alicandri at: beth.alicandri@dot.gov
Policy/Legislation/Guidance
Sign Retroreflectivity Requirements Have Been Added to the MUTCDBy Matt Lupes, FHWA One of the Federal Highway Administration’s primary missions is to improve safety on the nation’s roadways. More than 42,000 people have been killed on American roads during each of the past eight years. While only one-quarter of all travel occurs at night, about half of the traffic fatalities occur during nighttime hours. To address this disparity, the FHWA has adopted new traffic sign retroreflectivity requirements that are included as Revision 2 of the 2003 MUTCD. To comply with the new requirements, public agencies will have until January 2012 to implement and then continue to use an assessment or management method that is designed to maintain traffic sign retroreflectivity at or above the minimum levels specifi ed. Public agencies will have until January 2015 to replace any regulatory, warning, or postmounted guide (except street name) signs and until January 2018 to replace any street name signs and overhead guide signs that are identifi ed by the assessment or management method as failing to meet the minimum retroreflectivity levels. Provided that an assessment or management method is being used, an agency would be in compliance with the requirements of the new provisions even if there are some individual signs that do not meet the minimum retroreflectivity levels at a particular point in time. Instead of using one or more of the fi ve assessment or management methods described above, agencies are also permitted to develop and use other methods based on engineering studies. Because of the seven to 10-year compliance period that has been adopted for replacing signs that have insuffi cient retroreflectivity, highway departments will be able to implement improved sign inspection and management procedures and subsequently replace the signs in a time frame that is consistent with the typical sign replacement cycle. Cost increases from upgrading materials and/or processes might be offset by the longterm savings that result from the longer life of the higher performance sheeting products. For additional information on this rulemaking and sign retroreflectivity, please visit the FHWA retroreflectivity web site www.fhwa.dot.gov/retro.
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Policy Recommendations
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Resources, Tools and Technology Deployment
Interactive Highway Safety Design Model
The Federal Highway Administration, Office of Safety Research & Development has just
issued its latest 2007 Public Release (Version 4.00) of the Interactive Highway Safety
Design Model (IHSDM). The software and its associated documents are now available for
free downloading at www.ihsdm.org. The IHSDM is a suite of software analysis tools for
evaluating safety and operational effects of geometric design decisions on two-lane rural
highways. It currently includes fi ve evaluation modules, namely - Policy Review, Crash
Prediction, Design Consistency, Intersection Review, and Traffic Analysis. Concurrent with
the upcoming release of the Highway Safety Manual, we expect to release an expansion
of the existing Crash Prediction Module, which currently addresses only two-lane rural
highways. The expanded Crash Prediction Module will include the same capabilities for
the evaluation of multi-lane rural highways and urban / suburban arterials that will be part
of the Highway Safety Manual. To learn more about the IHSDM, please visit http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/safety/comprehensive/ihsdm/.
This 2007 release includes signifi cant enhancements to the Highway and Intersection Editors, user interface, evaluation process/wizard, output/reporting, help/documentation, the Administration Tool, and system confi guration. For free technical support, please e-mail IHSDM.Support@fhwa.dot.gov or call 202-493-3407.
In addition, an updated IHSDM training course (#380071) can be arranged via the National Highway Institute. For more information about the course, please visit http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/course_detail.aspx?num=FHWA-NHI- 380071&cat=t&key=&num=380&loc=&sta=&tit=&typ=&lev=&ava=&str=&end=&drl
For more information, please contact Shyuan-Ren (Clayton) Chen, FHWA Office Safety R&D at 202-493-3054 or email clayton.chen@fhwa.dot.gov.
MUTCD Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA)The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) |
RetroreflectivityThe fi nal rule for maintained sign retroreflectivity was published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 21, 2007. The text of the fi nal rule went into effect on January 22, 2008. The FHWA Visibility website will be modifi ed to provide the text of the rule, the changes to the MUTCD text, a brochure that explains the changes, and other related items. Go to www.fhwa.dot.gov/retro. A 4-page brochure is in the process of being printed. |
Safety Training Resource Database (STRD)Use the Safety Training Resource Database (STRD) (http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/) to search for safety and work |
was published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2008. The comment period will close on July 31, 2008. For the convenience of reviewers, FHWA has posted the Federal Register Notice and supporting documents on the MUTCD website: 
zone professional development resources – both those that are currently offered and those that have been offered in the past. The STRD is a project of the Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety and an important tool offered by the Roadway Safety Professional Capacity Building Program (RSPCB).Mitigation Strategies for Design Exceptions Guide
FHWA Office of Safety published Mitigation Strategies for Design Exceptions guide in July 2007. The purpose of the guide is to provide designers with practical information on design exceptions and strategies that can be implemented to mitigate their potential adverse impacts to highway safety and traffic operations. The guide presents and illustrates a variety of mitigation strategies, including real-world case studies from several States.
Design criteria, established through years of practice and research, form the basis by which highway designers strive to balance cost, safety, mobility, social and environmental impacts, and the needs of a wide variety of roadway users. For many situations, there is suffi cient flexibility within the design criteria to achieve a balanced design and still meet minimum values. On occasion, designers encounter situations with especially diffi cult site constraints and an appropriate solution may suggest the use of design values or dimensions outside the normal range of practice. In such cases, a design exception may be considered.
Designers should recognize, however, that design exceptions have the potential to negatively affect highway safety and traffic operations. For this reason, consideration of a design exception should be deliberative and thorough and a clear understanding of the potential negative impacts should be developed.
Limited number of hard copies of the guide has been distributed to FHWA division offi ces, Resource Centers, and State DOTs. The HTML and PDF versions of the guide are available on the Offi ce of Safety website at: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/geometric/pubs/. FHWA is in the process of having more hard copies and CDs produced for further distribution upon request. For more information about the guide, please contact Ms. Guan Xu at: guan.xu@dot.gov.
Advanced Work Zone Management and DesignA new course is being offered by the National Highway Institute (NHI) entitled Advanced Work Zone Management and Design (FHWA-NHI-380072) This three-day training course provides participants with advanced levels of knowledge of, and competencies in technical and non-technical aspects of work zone traffic control practices, including work zone planning, design, project management, and contract issues. |
Traffic Records ClassroomThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
presents Traffic Records 101, an online curriculum
for use by State and local traffi c safety professionals.
This curriculum provides the basics, as well as
an understanding of specifi c data components
and technologies included in a comprehensive
traffi c records system such as, crash, roadway, Once registered, users are able to study at their own pace, complete interesting reading assignments that include links to applicable websites and articles, take rotating examinations on a wide variety of subjects, and track their assignments and scores. Additional resources are available on the Links and the Library pages of this site. Visit: http://www.trafficrecords101.net/ for more details. |
The course is designed to provide maximum flexibility by including core, recommended, and optional lessons. The default course consists of the core and recommended lessons. Each participant receives a copy of the Reference Manual and a Participant Workbook. 
driver, vehicle, injury control, citation/
adjudication, motor carrier, exposure,
and data analysis.Conferences / Events / Meetings
2008
| Mar 30-Apr 2 | Miami, FL | ITE 2008 Technical Conference and Exhibit http://www.ite.org/meetcon/index.asp |
| Apr 2-3 | Miami, FL | AASHTO Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety http://www.transportation.org/meetings/159.aspx |
| Apr 7-11 | NATIONAL | National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) Visit the website below for more details http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/wz_awareness/ |
| Apr 13-15 | Portland, OR | Lifesavers National Conference http://www.lifesaversconference.org/ |
| Apr 18-23 | Portland, OR | National Association of Counties & Engineers (NACE) http://www.countyengineers.org/ |
| May 5-9 | NATIONAL | Motorcycle Awareness Month http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.d7975d55e8abb e089ca8e410dba046a0/ |
| May 5-9 | Branson, MO | AASHTO Spring Meeting http://www.transportation.org/ |
| May 11-17 | NATIONAL | National Transportation Week http://www.ntweek.org/ |
| May 16 | NATIONAL | National Bike Day http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/ |
| May 18-21 | Kansas City, MO | National Roundabout Conference http://www.trb.org/Conferences/Roundabout/ |
| May 19-June 1 | NATIONAL | "CLICK IT OR TICKET" Mobilization http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.ce4a601cdfe97fc239d17110cba046a0 |
| June 15-18 | Baltimore, MD | TRB 2008 Summer Conference http://www.trb.org/conferences/2008/Summer/announce.pdf |
| June 18-20 | Mobile, AL | National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD) Mid-Year Meeting http://www.ncutcd.org/meetings-200806.shtml |
| June 28-July 2 | Indianapolis, IN | National Sheriffs Association Annual Conference http://www.sheriffs.org/conferences/2008AnnualConference Exhibition.asp |
| July 11-15 | Kansas City MO | National Association of Counties Annual Meeting (NACo) http://www.naco.org/ |
| July 14-17 | Breckenridge, CO | National Local Transportation Assistance Program (LTAP) http://www.ltapt2.org/ |
| July25-31 | Orlando, FL | 34th Traffic Records Forum http://atsip.org/index.php/2008forum/index/ |
| August 3-9 | NATIONAL | National Stop On Red Week http://www.stopredlightrunning.com/ |
| August 17-20 | New Orleans, LA | American Public Works Association (APWA) http://www.apwa.net/ |
| August 17-20 | Anaheim, CA | ITE Annual Meeting & Exhibit http://www.ite.org/meetcon/index.asp |
