Highway Safety Manual

A new generation of highway safety analysis tools is being deployed to the transportation community through several innovative research efforts. The Highway Safety Manual (HSM), which will be published as an American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) document, and supporting implementation tools including Safety Analyst, Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM), and the Crash Modification Factors (CMF) Clearinghouse were developed by cooperative research initiated by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These tools will greatly advance state and local highway agencies’ ability to incorporate explicit, quantitative consideration of safety into their planning and project development decision making.

The first edition of the HSM provides the best factual information and tools in a useful form to facilitate roadway planning, design, operations, and maintenance decisions based on precise consideration of their safety consequences. The primary focus of the HSM is the introduction and development of analytical tools for predicting the impact of transportation project and program decisions on road safety.

AASHTO’s Highway Safety Manual webpage: highwaysafetymanual.org serves as the official HSM website where you can find the most up to date information and new developments on the HSM.
HSM Outreach Materials
HSM Technical Support
- Post questions to HSM User Discussion Forum
- Email questions to info@highwaysafetymanual.org
Guidance
- HSM Managers Guide
- HSM Integration Guide
HSM Training
HSM Case Studies
HSM Related Tools
- SafetyAnalyst includes tools to implement many of the roadway safety management procedures that will be presented in Part B of the forthcoming Highway Safety Manual (HSM).
- Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) - providing a predictive methods tool for project specific designs.
- Crash Modication Factors (CMF) Clearinghouse is the database that houses the many CRFs introduced in part C and D of the HSM. The CMFs used in Part D have been vetted for inclusion in the HSM.

Additional Resources

HSM Information Contacts

Resource	Contact Info
AASHTO HSM Information: http://www.highwaysafetymanual.org	Kelly Hardy, AASHTO khardy@aashto.org 202-624-5868
FHWA HSM Information: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsm/	Esther Strawder, FHWA-HQ esther.strawder@dot.gov 202-366-6836
FHWA HSM Information: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsm/	Mshadoni Smith, FHWA-HQ Mshadoni.smith@dot.gov 202-366-7105
NHI Training Information: http://nhi.fhwa.dot.gov	Tom Elliott, FHWA-NHI Thomas.Elliott@dot.gov 703-235-0544
SafetyAnalyst Information: http://www.safetyanalyst.org	Vicki Schofield, AASHTO vschofield@aashto.org 202-624-3640
IHSDM Information: http://www.ihsdm.org	Clayton Chen, FHWA R&D clayton.chen@dot.gov 202-493-3054
CMF Clearinghouse Information: http://www.cmfclearinghouse.org	Karen Scurry, FHWA Karen.Scurry@dot.gov 609-637-4207
Future HSM Development and Feedback: http://safetyperformance.org	Rick Pain, TRB rpain@nas.edu 202-334-2964

HSM Data Support: Safety analytical processes and tools are only as reliable as the data that is used to populate them. FHWA and our partners have developed several important tools and resources to ensure that States are capable of collecting standard data as indicated below.
- Model Inventory of Roadway Data Elements (MIRE)- a listing and accompanying data dictionary of roadway and traffic data elements critical to safety management. For more information, go to http://www.mireinfo.org/
- Crash Data Improvement technical assistance Program (CDIP)- a technical assistance program to assist states in evaluating and improving the quality of their crash data and collection processes. For more information check out http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/cdip/
- Roadway Data Improvement technical assistance program (RDIP) - COMING SUMMER 2012 new program to assist states in improving the quality of their roadway data collection.