2: SAFETY
Continually improve highway safety. Other Information:
Key Safety Strategies: Safety on the highways is our highest priority--more than 40,000 Americans die, and 3 million are injured
in motor vehicle crashes on our highways each year. More than 5,000 of the fatal crashes each year involve commercial motor
vehicles. Crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists result in 5,000 fatalities annually. As more people travel farther
on the highways each year, without significant improvements in highway safety, the number of fatalities and injuries could
also increase. In meeting this highway safety goal, the rate of fatalities would change from 1.1 to 0 .7 fatalities per 100
million vehicle kilometers traveled (1.7 to 1.1 fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled). This would be a 35-percent
decrease in the fatality rate. Ensuring that it is safe to travel on the highways is a guiding principle throughout all of
our programs and activities. FHWA focuses safety programs on high risk areas through technical assistance, research, training,
data analysis, and public information as well as through compliance, education, and enforcement of national motor carrier
safety requirements. Further, FHWA provides resources for infrastructure and system improvements to enhance safety such as
highway-rail grade crossing. Improving highway safety also reduces the economic costs of transportation incidents. To meet
its goals to continually improve highway safety, even as travel increases, FHWA's key strategies in highway safety include
the following: Promoting Safety Management Processes: In partnership with the highway community, FHWA will facilitate implementation
of comprehensive safety management processes with Federal, State, and local government and the commercial transportation industry.
Safety management processes will bring together, in a coordinated approach, the stakeholders that affect highway safety including
highway design, operation and enforcement agencies, the motor carrier industry, safety advocacy groups, and others. FHWA will
work with our partners and stakeholders to develop information and analysis systems to better identify the causes of crashes
and develop crash avoidance programs to reduce or eliminate crashes. FHWA will identify and share best practices in design
and operation of safe roadways that can reduce the risks and severity of crashes. FHWA will work with its partners to implement
programs such as Safe Communities that will increase involvement of communities and citizens in identifying and implementing
safety practices. Through the above initiatives, FHWA will ensure that government agencies, the public, communities, and businesses
are aware of safety countermeasures and best practices and able to apply them throughout every level of highway system design,
construction, operation, and use. Deploying Lifesaving Technologies on the Highways: FHWA will identify and promote deployment
of safety technology with particular emphasis on technologies that address high priority areas, including run-off-road and
pedestrian and bicycle incidents. Advancement of ITS technologies including intelligent cruise control, viewer enhancers,
and on-board sensors, as discussed under the mobility goal, will also be a key part of the safety initiatives. FHWA's longer
term safety strategy is a technology-based systematic approach to enhance the safety of the roadway, vehicles, and users.
We will facilitate the research, development, and application of technology to dramatically change operations and integrate
these new technologies to create a fail-safe highway environment. The initial steps toward this include the testing of the
automated highway system, automated traffic management systems, pedestrian signal communications systems, intelligent vehicles
and vehicle systems, and commercial vehicle and passenger car technologies that monitor the fatigue and safety performance
of individual drivers. Focusing on Commercial Vehicle and Driver Safety: In the past, the motor carrier program was primarily
built on regulations and enforcement. Today, it is a safety program which identifies and implements innovative and performance-based
programs. FHWA will: promote safe driving practices in the vicinity of large trucks; build partnerships to improve motor carrier
safety and performance of commercial motor vehicles and drivers; target enforcement on the highest-risk motor carriers, and
identify and deploy new technologies to enhance the safety performance and productivity of the motor carrier industry. Focusing
on Human Behavior: In the Headquarters and field, the FHWA will add its resources to work on educational and enforcement activities
designed to change human behavior while using the roadway environment. The FHWA will join all the modal administrations in
such activities that increase the use of seat belts, reduce the number of red light running crashes, and reduce the number
of alcohol related crashes. It is estimated that increasing the use of seat belts and decreasing drunk driving have the highest
potential for reducing fatalities on the Nation's highways. These activities will be accomplished with departmental leadership
from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Objective(s):
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