Roadway Safety Information Analysis: A Manual for Local Rural Road Owners

Federal Highway Administration
Office of Safety

December 2010
(Updated 5/9/2011 to correct error in equations for Road Segment and Intersection Rates in Chapter 3)

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1. The Challenges on Local Rural Roads
1.2. Local and Rural Guides

2. Safety Information Collection

2.1. Crash Data

2.1.1. Law Enforcement Crash Reports
2.1.2. State Crash Database
2.1.3. FARS Database
2.1.4. Hospital Data
2.1.5. Public Notification of Safety Concerns

2.2. Roadway Data
2.3. Exposure Data

3. Analyzing Data

3.1. Crash Frequency

3.1.1. Crash Averaging
3.1.2. Trend Analysis

3.2. Crash Rates

3.2.1. Road Segment Rate Calculation
3.2.2. Intersection Rate Calculation
3.2.3. Crash Rates by Roadway Mileage
3.2.4. Using Crash Rates

3.3. Crash Severity
3.4. Identifying Potential Crashes
3.5. Data Analysis Tools

4. Countermeasure Selection

4.1. Types of Countermeasure Implementation

4.1.1. Systematic Approach
4.1.2. Spot Location Approach
4.1.3. Comprehensive Approach

4.2. Incorporating Roadway Characteristics
4.3. Countermeasure Evaluation

5. Case Studies

6. Summary

Appendix A. State Crash Report Example

Appendix B. Resources

List of Tables

Table 1. Sample Local Jurisdiction Crash Database

Table 2. Crash History for County Road 220

Table 3. Rolling Crash Average for County Road 220

Table 4. Using Route Comparison to Determine Crash Rates

Table 5. Partial listing of MPO crash rate averages by cross section

Table 6. Forecast Crash Frequency for Russell Street Project Alternatives

List of Figures

Figure 1. Data Collection and Analysis Steps

Figure 2. Relationship between Available Information and Analysis Possibilities

Figure 3. Location of Crashes on County Road 220

Figure 4. County Road 220 Crash Trends, 2001-2009

Figure 5. MORPC's Ranking Steps

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