Safety Research
Overview
Safely getting people where they need to go is the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) top priority. Our Nation has nearly four million miles of roadway — and more drivers than anytime before. The chance of being involved in a crash is always a concern. FHWA's primary focus areas are:
Supporting areas include:
Primary Research Areas
Intersections
FHWA is initiating a new research focus area on intersection safety. Intersection and intersection-related crashes consistently make up a high proportion of total fatal crashes, up to 23 percent. More than 50 percent of the combined fatal and injury crashes occur at intersections. AASHTO's Strategic Highway Safety Plan identifies... [more]
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Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
Every trip begins and ends with walking. This research focuses on identifying pedestrian and bicyclist problem areas, developing analysis tools for planners and engineers to better understand and target problems, and evaluating infrastructure countermeasures to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety... [more]
Roadside Safety
Centers of Excellence in Finite Element Crash Analysis
Federal Outdoor Impact Lab (FOIL)
FHWA/NHTSA National Crash Analysis Center
Tractor/Trailer Model Development for Finite Element Analysis of Roadside Hardware Features
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Run-Off-Road Safety
This research emphases "keeping vehicles on the roadway," and "minimizing the consequences of leaving the roadway." Development of the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model and the research in enhanced driver visibility are key study areas. This area supports the objectives of AASHTO's Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
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Speed Management
With the repeal of the NMSL, there is renewed interest on how best to set and enforce speed limits. Speed management is a complex issue involving engineering and behavioral factors. This research is developing and testing engineering measures and technologies to manage speeds and encourage wider adoption of travel speeds appropriate for the class of road, roadway design, and travel conditions.
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Supporting Research Areas
Evaluations of Low Cost Safety Improvements
The goal of this research is to develop reliable estimates of the safety effectiveness of safety improvements identified as strategies in the NCHRP Report 500 Guidebooks through scientifically rigorous before-after evaluations of sites within the U.S. where these strategies are being implemented. [more]
Geometric Design Laboratory
The mission of the Geometric Design Laboratory is to provide technical support to the Office of Safety Research and Development to develop the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM), a suite of software tools for the safety evaluation of highway geometric design alternatives. The full two-lane rural road version of IHSDM is scheduled for public release in 2002. A rural multilane version is scheduled for release in 2006.
Photometric and Visibility Laboratory
The Photometric and Visibility Laboratory (PVL) supports the Visibility Program at TFHRC. The Visibility Program is directed towards research for near-term improvement of the visibility on and along the roadway and of traffic control devices to enhance the safety of road users. The Visibility Program also promotes opportunities that advance new practices and technologies to improve visibility on a cost-effective basis. The PVL investigates the effectiveness of innovative means of marking, signing, signaling and lighting through direct photometric and/or colorimetric measurements, and by supporting human-centered studies of the effectiveness of new technologies... [more]
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Human Centered Systems Studies
Research shows inappropriate driver perceptions and behaviors are implicated in 80 percent to 90 percent of highway crashes. FHWA is seeking an increased understanding and analytic description of road-user needs for all roadway classifications and operating conditions, including bicycle paths, sidewalks and crosswalks, traffic control devices, and other safety countermeasures... [more]
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Safety-Management Assessments
The primary objective of safety management is to ensure that highway safety resources are appropriately allocated to maximize the reduction of the frequency and severity of all types of highway crashes. Crashes are the result of multiple errors, design, traffic control, and user. The focus of this area includes identification of safety problems, development of analysis tools, and knowledge of the effectiveness of potential solutions.
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Highway Safety Information System (HSIS)
HSIS is a multi-State safety database that contains crash, roadway inventory, and traffic volume data for a select group of States. [more]
