of 

US. 

Trcnsportotion 

Deporlm€f'll Memorandum

Federal Highway 

Administration 

Subject: 	 INFORMATION: Clarification ofRoles Date: I/I Pi 1 I 201. 

and Responsibilities in Implementing the 

American Association of State Highway 

and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) I 

Federal Highway Admi nistration (FHWA) 

Joint Implementation Agreement o n the 

AASHTO Manualfor Assessing Safety 

Hardware (MASH) 

From: 	 Eli zabeth Alicand1i fl /J II / \.A.;(_ In Reply Refer To: 

Associate Administrator HSA-1 

To: 	 Division Administrators 


Directors of Fie ld Services 


Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers 


Purpose 

Since the distri bution of the AASHTO/FHWA j oint implementatio n agreement for 

AASHTO MASH, we have received many questions o n how FHWA and AASHTO are 

moving forward with the j oint implementation agreement. This memo descri bes the 

different ro les and responsibilities o f FI-:TWA and AASHTO since the transition from the 

National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCI IRP) Report 350 testing criteria to 

AASHTO·s MASH criteri a. 

Background 

In 20 15, roadway departure fata lities accounted for 18,695 highway fatal ities. The 

impl ementation of the AASHTO MASH will he lp make roads sa fe r and lessen the 

severity ofroadway depa1ture crashes. The AASHTO MASH, updated in 20 16, provides 

AASHTO·s fi rst offic ia lly adopted crash-testing procedures for use in assessing roadside 

hardware. Until AASHTO MASH, NCHRP 350 - Recommended Proceduresfor the 

Safety Pe1formance Evaluation ofHighway Features, was the primary reference. FH WA 

accepted the responsibility for c lari fying and providing guidance for the NCHRP 350 

report. The NCHRP 350 report is now superseded by the AASHTO MASH. 

Responsibilities 

In December 20 15, the AASHTO/r-HWA joint implementation agreement for AASHTO 

MASH was successfully balloted by AASHTO's Standing Committee on Highways and 

approved by FHWA. The agreement wil l he lp encourage the application of the newest 

and safest generation of roadside hardware. Per the agreement: 
2 

• ''AASHTO Technical Commillee for Roadside Safety (fCRS) will continue to be 

responsible for developing and maintaining the evaluation criteria adopted by 

AASHTO. " 

• "FHWA will continue its role in issuing letters o[e!igibilitv ofroadside safety 

hardware forf ederal-aid reimbursement. ·· 

As noted above from the agreement, the AASHTO TCRS is responsible for developing 

and maintaining the evaluation criteri a in AASHTO MASH. The PHWA will continue to 

provide technical assistance on roadside hardware to the AASHTO TCRS. Ultimately, 

the decision to make changes to the AASHTO MASH resides with AASHTO. 

The FHWA will continue its role issuing letters ofeligibili ty for roadside safety hardware 

that have been eva luated using AASHTO 's MASH testing guide lines and criteria. 

Questions pertaining to the FHWA Federal-aid Eligibility Reimbursement Process or 

issuance ofeligibility letters should be add ressed to the FHWA Office of Salety. 

Please note FHWA no longer issues new eligibi lity letters for roadside safety hardware 

tested under NCH RP 350. FHWA·s Federal-aid e ligibility letters are provided as a 

service to the States and are not a requirement for roadside safety hardwa re to be eligi ble 

for Federal-aid reimbursement. As stated in our eligibi lity letter, "eligibility for 

re imbursement under the Federal-aid highway program does not establish approval, 

certification or endorsement of the device for any particular purpose or use." lt is the 

States· responsibility to determine whether or not to use a particular hardware device and 

how to use it for their particular situation. 

AASHTO TCRS and FHWA will evaluate and monitor the avail ability of MASHcompliant devices and will revisit the implementation agreement as ne~ded. Since the 

original implementation agreement was balloted by AASHTO, changes lo the agreement 

will also be balloted by AASHTO and approved by FHWA. 

Summary 

Please share this memorandum with your State DOT. For more infonnation about the 

AASHTO/FHWA Joint MASH Implementation Agreement, please visit 

https://safcty.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway dept/countermeasures/reduce crash severity/policy 

memo guiclance.cfm. If you have any questions, please contact Will Longstreet at 

(202)366-0087 or Menna Yassin at (202)366-2833 .