Safe System Weekly | October 18, 2024
by Russ Martin
Welcome to this week’s edition! Next week is national Teen Driver Safety Week. The safety of novice drivers has been a perennial challenge, and the learning-to-drive process has changed dramatically in the last few decades. It’s a good time for parents to assess how they’re helping teens get ready to take the road.
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NHTSA Studying Property Damage Only Crash Data
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is requesting comments until December 16 on how states collect data on property damage only crashes. Data on property damage crashes is much less complete compared to fatal and serious-injury crashes.?
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AAA Foundation: Older Driver Self-Regulation Not Reflected in Risk Measurements
A new study from the AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety’s LongROAD (Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers) project struggled to find a strong connection between self-regulation of driving and harsh braking events among a study cohort of older drivers. The researchers stress that self-regulation is still probably a good practice, and some methodological caveats point to a need for more research.
Reports on Safety Camera Program Outcomes in Washington, D.C. and Chicago
A notable independent analysis of safety camera tickets issued in the nation’s capital, where the safety camera program has expanded, has found an overall increase in tickets issued. However, the number of tickets paid seem to have dropped, especially among individuals who receive more tickets. Meanwhile, individual cameras seem to have issued fewer tickets over time on average, suggesting that drivers are slowing down at those locations. The data about camera deployment suggests the city should consider whether program changes might help ease racial and economic disparities.
Meanwhile, in the Second City, safety cameras are producing citations more equitably - along the lines of the racial make-up of drivers. In contrast, African American drivers in Chicago are still overrepresented in traffic stops by human police officers.
?? Safety cameras are potent tools to increase road safety and impose both opportunities and risk in terms of equitable outcomes. This kind of scrutiny is probably healthy for these countermeasures as we ought to be assessing outcomes on an ongoing basis to build and maintain public support. ?
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领英推荐
CS Spotlight: FHWA Releases Case Studies Advancing the Safe System in the HSIP/SHSP?
The Federal Highway Administration has recently published four case studies on how Massachusetts, Alaska, Arkansas, and Illinois are advancing the Safe System Approach in their Highway Safety Improvement Programs (HSIPs) and Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs). This is the latest in an ongoing effort to help agencies infuse Safe System thinking both internal and external to state Departments of Transportation. Integrating Safe System principles and elements in safety processes and culture will support the ultimate goal of eliminating all deaths and serious injuries on our roads. CS helped FHWA by developing a study methodology, gathering expert input, and presenting the case studies in concise two-page reports. This project also builds on CS’ previous work for FHWA to develop the Safe System Roadway Design Hierarchy Guide.
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That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
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