Integrating Speed Management within Roadway Departure, Intersections, and Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Focus Areas

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report summarizes several different analyses which the research team used to evaluate the role of speeding in crashes or safety-critical events.

The first analysis (Section 2) summarized characteristics of speeding-related crashes using crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the General Estimation System (GES). As noted in Section 2, around 31 percent of fatal crashes annually are speeding related, and this trend has been consistent from 2003 to 2012. Around 20.2 percent of injury crashes are speeding related and around 16.2 percent of property damage only crashes are speeding-related.

The research team also summarized characteristics of crashes by crash type, driver characteristics, vehicle characteristics, and roadway/environmental characteristics.

Section 3 further explores characteristics of speeding-related fatal crashes at intersections. Summaries were developed using FARS data from 2010 to 2012. The research team evaluated fatal intersection crashes by type of roadway characteristics, driver characteristics, environmental characteristics, and crash types.

Section 4 evaluates characteristics of speeding-related fatal roadway departure crashes. Summaries were developed using FARS data from 2010 to 2012. The research team evaluated roadway departure crashes by type of roadway, driver, and environmental characteristics as well as by crash types.

Section 5 compares the characteristics of speeding-related fatal pedestrian and bicycle crashes. Summaries were developed using FARS data from 2010 to 2012. The research team evaluated pedestrian and bicycle crashes by type of roadway, driver, and environmental characteristics as well as by crash types.

Section 6 utilized existing summarized data from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) large-scale naturalistic driving study (NDS). The research team queried or extracted baseline and safety critical (crash, near-crash, crash relevant) events from the InSight Data Access Website. The evaluation compares safety-critical events (crash and near-crash) to baseline events to assess the role of speed. Additionally, the research team conducted a typology of characteristics for safety-critical events.