Safe System Weekly | August 23, 2024
by Russ Martin
Welcome back to Safe System Weekly! We missed some important developments during our break and we’re excited to catch up. As we’ve entered the return-to-school season, I hope everyone is mindful of increased school-related traffic on the road, wheel, and foot, and encouraging others to drive carefully.
U.S. DOT Launches New National Deployment Plan for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Technologies
This final plan associates V2X with the Department’s efforts to promote the Safe System Approach. The plan sets short-, medium-, and long-term goals for the proliferation of this technology throughout the country as well as a map of potential actions for major stakeholders such as the U.S. DOT, automakers, state agencies, and technology partners.
FHWA Guidance Memo on Match for Complete Streets Planning
The Federal Highway Administration has posted a new guidance memo clarifying the waiver of the 80 percent match requirement for State Planning and Research (SPR) and Metropolitan Planning (PL) funds used for required Complete Streets planning activities.
💡 In short, the waiver is a true waiver and extends beyond the required spending otherwise required on these activities. Readers may want to examine the memo closely.
FMCSA to Review All Guidance Documents
The Federal Motor Carrier Administration has announced an effort to review all of its existing guidance and evaluate whether to keep or eliminate them. Public comments are welcome.
NHTSA Fall Research Meeting
NHTSA will host an October 28-30 Research Portfolio Public Meeting to review the agency’s research activities. Register here.
NHTSA Final Rule on Child Restraint Systems
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a final rule to update FMVSS No. 208 to ensure that the latest child restraint systems can be safely used with airbags.
New BTSCRP Research: Informing the Selection of Countermeasures by Evaluating, Analyzing, and Diagnosing Contributing Factors that Lead to Crashes
This new report offers a toolbox to more effectively identify contributing factors for countermeasure selection. It includes a general process for highway safety diagnostic assessment under the Safe System, guidance for considering multiple contributing factors (which is more common than not), and sets of decision trees to link crash factors to potential countermeasures.
💡 This is a big report with big ideas that is worth a look by both behavioral and infrastructure safety program managers. There is something here for everyone. The report presents an insightful method to actually apply the Safe System Approach in practice. The authors helpfully reframe the role of human error or mistakes in crashes to include alternatively normal human limitations and “aberrant” risky driving behaviors (e.g., impaired driving). Altogether, this resource outlines a new framework to systemically distribute safety resources.
Distracted Driving A Factor in More Than Half of Georgia Crashes
Of all 2022 crashes, 53% had at least one suspected or confirmed distracted driver, according an official analysis of Georgia crash data.
💡 So much for underreporting distracted driving! Georgia appears to have leveraged a new analysis method to identify suspected distracted drivers based on many factors. See the fact sheet for more.
Traffic Stop Data Can Shape Policy. It’s Often Missing.
ICYMI, communities and analysts face many challenges aggregating data on traffic stops, which can be useful to guide policy and programs.
Recommended by LinkedIn
💡 Many states and communities are exploring how to accurately collect data on traffic stops, not only to achieve more equitable outcomes but also to measure the positive impacts of traffic enforcement and plan future traffic safety activities.
Why It’s So Hard to Recruit Police Officers
ICYMI, this article summarizes many staffing challenges faced by law enforcement, which is having a direct impact on how police partners can help address and prevent traffic violence.
Bikeshare Ridership Numbers and Costs Are Soaring
National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) data shows bikeshare popularity is at an all-time high in the U.S. and Canada, but rising costs threaten ridership.
New NCHRP Report on MASH Barriers for Vulnerable Road Users
This new NCHRP report proposes a new barrier design to separate vehicle and pedestrian/bicycle traffic that meets the test requirement of the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).
San Francisco Officials Meet with Waymo to Discuss School Crossing Guards’ Safety Concerns
This is the latest development as automated vehicle technology providers and San Francisco try to navigate local concerns about these vehicles.
💡 I’m sharing this for the individual story, but at the bottom of the article, you can see that this is Part 21 of an ongoing investigative series. I think we are all encouraged by the safety potential and other benefits of autonomous vehicle technology. My experience has been that the team at Waymo, for one, is extremely safety-focused. However, it’s worth keeping an eye on the dynamics of where this technology is being deployed.
Right on Red: The Culture War Comes for Traffic Lights
As many communities are increasingly considering policy changes to slow traffic, protect pedestrians, and discourage traffic violations, these plans have become politicized as members of Congress exert control over local Washington, D.C traffic safety rules and programs.
CS Openings
✔ Make sure you hit subscribe to get notifications when the next edition is out.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
Send me any updates you'd like me to include next week at rmartin@camsys.com or message me on LinkedIn.
Visit our website