Roadway Departure Safety

The FHWA’s Roadway Departure Safety Program provides important information for transportation practitioners, decision makers, and others to assist them in preventing and reducing the severity of roadway departure crashes.

Roadway departure crashes are frequently severe and account for the majority of highway fatalities. In 2008, there were 17,818 fatal roadway departure crashes resulting in 19,794 fatalities, which was 52 percent of the fatal crashes in the United States. A roadway departure crash is defined as a non-intersection crash which occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way. FHWA uses the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to compute statistics on roadway departure crashes. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/ncsa/fars.html

Roadway Departure Crashes Account for 53% of Fatal Crashes (Run Off Road Right 24%, Run Off Road Left 10%, Crossovers 17%. Unknown Roadway Departures 2%) and Non Roadway Departures is 47%

A roadway departure crash is defined as a non-intersection crash which occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way. FHWA uses the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to compute statistics on roadway departure crashes. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/ncsa/fars.html

Technical Assistance/Tools

Here’s where to find technical guidance and tools for practitioners.

Pavement Safety
Nighttime Visibility
Horizontal Curve Safety
Clear Zones
Strategic Approach to Roadway Departure
The Principles of a Safe Roadside Design

Acceptance Letters

Policy/Guidance

Click here to find more information about FHWA Policies and Procedures that relate to Roadway Safety, including information about the FHWA’s roadside hardware crashworthiness policy. FHWA policy requires the roadside hardware used on the National Highway System (NHS) to be performance-tested for crashworthiness. While FHWA oversight is limited to the NHS, the FHWA strongly recommends the use of crashworthy devices on all public facilities where run-off-the-road crashes may occur.

Research/Resources

Click here for links to research organizations that are currently conducting research on Roadway Departure Safety topics. Continued research is needed to find more effective techniques for improving road safety, and to assist decisionmakers in implementing the most cost-effective roadway departure crash countermeasures.

By focusing on reducing the number and severity of roadway departure crashes, we can significantly reduce highway deaths and injures. The FHWA supports the five strategies in AASHTO’s Strategic Plan for Improving Roadside Safety

Increase awareness of and support for roadside safety.
Build and maintain information resources and analysis procedures to support continued improvement of roadside safety.
Prevent vehicles from leaving the roadway.
Prevent vehicles from overturning or striking objects when they leave the roadway.
Minimize injuries and fatalities when overturn occurs or when objects are struck in the road.

AASHTO’s April 2008 publication, Driving Down Lane Departure Crashes: A National Priority provides more information.