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                        Safety
                        Safety Data Analysis & Tools
                        Systemic Approach to Safety


            
            In This Section
        Safety Data Analysis & Tools
                Crash Modification Factor Clearinghouse
                Roadway Safety Data Program (RSDP)
                                Overview
                Data Driven Safety Analysis
                Data Management
                Safety Data Analysis Tools
                Local Data Integration
                Technical Assistance
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                Resources
                Highway Safety Manual (HSM)
                Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE) and FDEs
                Systemic
                                Overview
                Why Systemic
                Training
                Resources
                Road Safety Audits
                                Overview
                Benefits
                Legal Issues
                Steps of Conduct
                Training
                Resources
      
   Program Contact
      Matt Hinshaw
      
                    
            Data-Driven Safety Analysis Program Manager
      
                    
            FHWA Office of Safety
      
                
    **Email:**matthew.hinshaw@dot.gov**Phone:** 360-619-7677
    If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.
                
                Systemic Approach to Safety Resources
    

    
    
          Overview Fact Sheet

***Description:***
This fact sheet provides a brief overview of the systemic safety approach along with the benefits and how it can be used.

***Target Audience:***
State Departments of Transportation (Safety Engineer, Planning Offices, DOT Districts), Local Transportation Agencies (Public Works Directors, Transportation Directors, Highway Engineers, County Engineers, MPOs), Federal (FHWA Division Offices)

***Uses:***
The fact sheet can be used to introduce the concept to DOT and MPO personnel and officials, elected officials, and the public and educate them about the benefits of the approach.

Narrated Presentation

***Coming Back Soon!***

Applying the Systemic Safety Approach on Local and Rural Roads

***Description:***
This flyer is one in a series of local and rural road safety briefing sheets.

***Target Audience:***
Local Transportation Agencies

***Uses:***
The briefing sheet introduces the systemic approach to safety to local transportation agencies.

Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool

***Description:***
This report provides information on the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool including a step-by-step process for conducting systemic safety analysis; analytical techniques for determining a reasonable balance between the implementation of spot safety improvements and systemic safety improvements; and a mechanism for quantifying the benefits of safety improvements implemented through a systemic approach.

***Target Audience:***
State Departments of Transportation (Safety Engineer, Planning Offices, DOT Districts), Local Transportation Agencies (Public Works Directors, Transportation Directors, Highway Engineers, County Engineers, MPOs)

***Uses:***
The tool helps States learn about and apply the systemic approach to safety.

Supplemental Case Studies

***Description:***
These case studies supplement the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool and demonstrate how agencies can apply systemic safety analysis for pedestrian crashes and when limited roadway data available.

***Target Audience:***
State Departments of Transportation (Safety Engineer, Planning Offices, DOT Districts), Local Transportation Agencies (Public Works Directors, Transportation Directors, Highway Engineers, County Engineers, MPOs)

***Uses:***
These case studies can be used in conjunction with the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool to apply systemic safety analysis under these scenarios.

State Guidelines

**Texas** – Systemic Safety Widening Report: This report presents the application of a proposed systemic approach to project selection for highway widening with a focus on reducing single-vehicle run-off-road (SVROR) and opposite direction (head-on) crashes in Texas.

Developing Methodology for Identifying, Evaluating, And Prioritizing Systemic Improvements: This report proposes two systemic approaches for the State of Texas, one to project selection and one to roadway characteristic classification.

Other Systemic Safety Resources

NCHRP Report 955: Quantitative Approaches to Systemic Safety Analysis
This report provides guidance to state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other transportation agencies on how to apply a systemic safety management approach for identifying safety improvement projects.

Systemic Pedestrian Safety Analysis
TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Report 893: Systemic Pedestrian Safety Analysis provides a safety analysis method that can be used to proactively identify sites for potential safety improvements based on specific risk factors for pedestrians. A systemic approach, as opposed to a “hot-spot” approach, enables transportation agencies to identify, prioritize, and select appropriate countermeasures for locations with a high risk of pedestrian-related crashes, even when crash occurrence data are sparse. The guidebook also provides important insights for the improvement of data collection and data management to better support systemic safety analyses.

Quick Start Guide: Systemic Safety Analysis
This guide describes tips and strategies for using resources your agency already has to perform systemic safety analysis, as defined in the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool. A scenario implementing each task is woven throughout to help illustrate the concepts.

Take Action Before a Crash Occurs: Use a Systemic Approach to Safety
This flyer describes why the systemic approach to safety is an important part of the safety management process.

Reliability Safety Management Series: Systemic Safety Programs
This guide describes the state-of-the-practice and the latest tools to support systemic safety analysis. The target audience includes program managers, project managers, and data analysts involved in projects that impact highway safety. The objectives of this guide are to: 1) raise awareness of the systemic approach to safety management, 2) characterize typical projects identified and implemented through a comprehensive safety management program, 3) demonstrate the value of integrating systemic approaches as part of a comprehensive safety management program, and 4) provide information on allocating funding to systemic projects within a comprehensive safety management program.

Systematic Safety Improvement Risk Factor Evaluation and Countermeasure Study
The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University published a report that investigates two systemic safety tools and methodologies used for evaluating and prioritizing expected crash risks on rural roads.

United States Roadway Assessment Program (usRAP)
usRAP is a program that assesses and benchmarks the relative safety of roads using roadway inventory data and/or crash history.  The program provides highway safety planners a solid, data-driven foundation for developing highway safety plans.  Modeled on research and software developed in Europe and Australia, RAP programs are used in more than 70 countries around the world.  The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety provided the initial funding to start-up the usRAP program, which is now managed by the Roadway Safety Foundation in Washington, DC.

Archived News

**Check out the following article in the May/June 2013 edition of Public Roads:**

Using Risk to Drive Safety Investments*by Howard Preston, Richard Storm, Karen Scurry, and Elizabeth Wemple*

*May/June 2013. Public Roads*

Contact

For training and technical assistance, apply online through the safety peer-to-peer program at http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/p2p/p2p_app.aspx

**For other questions related to the systemic approach to safety, contact Matt Hinshaw at** matthew.hinshaw@dot.gov.
              
      
    
          Last updated: Wednesday, December 27, 2023 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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