Memorandum

SENT VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Subject: INFORMATION: 2021 Update to 

Focused Approach to Safety 

Date: October 20, 2021 

From: Michael S. Griffith In Reply Refer To: 

Director, Office of Safety Technologies HSST

To: Division Administrators

Directors of Field Services

Safety Field

Since 2004, FHWA has used the Focused Approach to Safety (FAS) to identify areas of 

opportunity and to offer priority assistance to select Focus States toward reducing 

fatalities and serious injuries on the Nation’s highways. Periodically, the FAS is adjusted 

and updated based on current data and program evaluation. The FAS was last updated in 

2015; this memo describes the changes made for 2021 and lists the new Focus States for 

each focus area.

Update Process

For the 2021 update, data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), summary 

information from the state Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) database, and data 

from the U.S. Census and FHWA Highway Statistics were used. The FARS data covered 

the most recent available six-year period (2014-2019), and Census and Highway 

Statistics data were matched to those years. Previously established FHWA focus area 

definitions informed the data analysis. The update process consisted mainly of two parts: 

1) a review and determination of focus areas, and 2) the screening and selection of Focus

States.

Focus Area Review

Past iterations of the FAS have consistently featured the following focus areas: roadway 

departure, intersections and pedestrians/bicyclists (combined). For this update, fatalities 

and other road safety data were examined from several perspectives in order to 

reconsider, review, and select appropriate focus areas.

An extensive examination of fatalities through crash tree diagramming, along with the 

SHSP database information, confirmed that roadway departure, intersection, pedestrian, 

and bicyclist fatalities continue to be predominant crash categories associated with 

fatalities in the U.S., with eighty-six percent (86%) of traffic related fatalities accounted 

for in these areas for the given analysis period. Additional facts about these focus areas 

include: 
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• Fifty percent (50%) are related to roadway departure. 

• Twenty-seven percent (27%) are related to intersections.

• Sixteen percent (16%) are pedestrians.

• Three percent (3%) are bicyclists.

Therefore, FHWA determined that these should continue as the four focus areas, and to 

treat pedestrians and bicyclists separately. Additionally, the focus area review identified 

other areas that warrant attention, but not as separate focus areas. Those areas, referred to 

as emphasis areas, are speed management and two-lane rural roadways. These are 

expected to receive special attention within the focus areas, as appropriate. Speed 

management is an emphasis area for each of the four focus areas, and two-lane rural 

roadways is an emphasis area for only the roadway departure focus area. As part of 

technical assistance to the focus states, we will explore the state-specific circumstances 

and contributing factors associated with the focus area(s).

Screening and Selection Process

As with previous updates to the FAS, this update developed and used a new approach to 

selecting candidate Focus States. For the first time for an FAS update, negative binomial 

regression models were used to evaluate safety performance in each of the safety focus 

areas. This is the methodology used for many of the safety performance functions in the 

AASHTO Highway Safety Manual. For each focus area category, the number of 

fatalities in each state for each of the six years was matched with the corresponding state 

exposure metric value to establish the statistical relationship.

Multiple models were created for each focus area using either travel exposure (vehicle 

miles traveled, miles-walked or miles-bicycled) or population. The travel exposure and 

population regression models were then used as benchmarks to determine if the average 

observed fatalities in each state are greater or lesser than would be predicted for the given 

exposure metric. 

Using the observed and modeled data, FHWA developed metrics and established 

screening thresholds. The intent was to identify consistent overrepresentation based on 

the data. These metrics include “Fatalities Delta”, “Fatalities Ratio” and “Fatalities 

Equity”, as shown in Table 1. 

• The Fatalities Delta metric is the calculated difference between the average 

observed fatalities and the predicted fatalities. The Fatalities Delta can be positive 

or negative, with positive values indicating that observed fatalities were greater 

than predicted. The Fatalities Delta threshold was set at 20. 

• The Fatalities Ratio metric is calculated as the ratio of the average observed 

fatalities to the predicted fatalities. The Fatalities Ratio must be greater than zero, 

and can be more than or less than 1, with ratios greater than 1 indicating that the 

observed fatalities are greater than predicted. The Fatalities Ratio threshold was 

set at 1.1. 
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• The Fatalities Equity metric – either Equity Proportion or Equity Ratio – serves as 

a means to identify and account for disparities in fatality outcomes based on race 

and ethnicity. The Fatalities Equity metric informs whether Persons of Color, as 

described in Executive Order 13985, are disproportionately represented in the 

observed fatalities in a given state for each focus area. The Fatalities Equity 

threshold was set at the Median Average Value (for the respective focus area) for 

Proportion and 1.0 for Ratio. 

Table 1. Focus Area Metrics

Metric Threshold

Fatalities Delta ≥ 20 fatalities (at least 20 more than predicted)

Fatalities Ratio ≥ 1.1 (at least 10% higher than predicted)

Fatalities Equity

Equity Proportion > Median Average Value 

(out of 50 states, DC, and PR) 

OR

Equity Ratio > 1

States that met or exceeded all three of the metric thresholds were identified as potential 

Focus States. Based on this screening approach, there are 16 unique Focus States, in 

contrast to 25 from the 2015 update. The resulting Focus States by focus area are listed

in Table 2, indicated by an “X”. If a State is not listed in this table, it is not a Focus State 

for this 2021 update. 
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Table 2. Focus States by Focus Area 

State Roadway 

Departure Intersections Pedestrians Bicyclists

Alabama X 

Arizona X X 

California X X 

Colorado X 

Florida X X X 

Louisiana X X X 

Mississippi X 

Montana X 

Nevada X X 

New Mexico X 

North Carolina X 

Oklahoma X 

Puerto Rico X 

South Carolina X X X 

Texas X X 

Wyoming X 

These 16 States represent fifty-one percent (51%) of all traffic related fatalities that 

occurred in the United States during the analysis period. 

As it concerns Focus States, there is one additional noteworthy change for this 2021 

update. Compared to the 2015 FAS update, a different approach was utilized for 

identifying potential local public agency stakeholders. For this update, similar modeling 

and analyses were conducted at a regional level using Census metropolitan statistical area 

boundaries and/or metropolitan planning organization (MPO) boundaries. Within the 

intersections, pedestrians and bicyclists focus areas, there may also be MPOs/regions that 

are overrepresented based on similar metrics. These MPOs/regions are listed in Table 3, 

indicated by an “X”. Note that where “Greater <name> Region” is used it refers to the 

Census-based metropolitan area and is inclusive of all MPOs in that region. If an 

MPO/Region is not listed here, it was not identified as overrepresented for these focus 

areas. This analysis was not conducted for roadway departure because it is 

predominantly a rural challenge. 
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Table 3. Focus Area MPOs/Regions 

State MPO/Region Intersections Pedestrians Bicyclists

Arizona Maricopa Association of 

Governments X X 

Arizona Pima Association of 

Governments X 

California Kern Council of 

Governments X 

California Sacramento Area Council of 

Governments X 

California San Diego Association of 

Governments X 

California San Joaquin Council of 

Governments X 

California Southern California 

Association of Governments X X 

Colorado Denver Regional Council of 

Governments X 

Florida Greater Cape Coral/ Naples 

Region X 

Florida Greater Miami Region X X X 

Florida Greater Orlando Region X X X 

Florida Greater Pensacola Region X 

Florida Greater Sarasota Region X 

Florida Greater Tampa/St. 

Petersburg Region X X X 

Florida

Heartland Regional 

Transportation Planning 

Organization

X 

Florida North Florida Transportation 

Planning Organization X X 

Florida Polk County Transportation 

Planning Organization X 

Florida River to Sea Transportation 

Planning Organization X 

New 

Mexico

Mid-Region Council of 

Governments X 

Nevada 

Regional Transportation 

Commission of Southern 

Nevada 

X X 

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Metropolitan 

Planning Organization X 

South 

Carolina

Grand-Strand Area 

Transportation Study X 

Texas Alamo Area Metropolitan 

Planning Organization X 
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Tailored Technical Assistance and Monitoring

As with past iterations of the FAS, FHWA will offer priority access to assistance through 

several different options, such as:

• focus area countermeasure/strategy implementation evaluation, guided selfassessments and maturity-capability reviews;

• data analysis, action plan development and technical support from initiation to 

implementation;

• training in several formats, including in-person or virtual workshops, webinars, 

and various training materials;

• ongoing support for a wide range of safety program activities, including data 

collection, analysis tools and countermeasures.

FHWA subject matter experts for the focus areas and our Division Office staff will

discuss with and provide to the Focus States technical assistance that is instrumental in

reducing fatalities and serious injuries in the specific focus area.

Further information on the Focused Approach to Safety is available on the Office of 

Safety’s website: http://www.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/fas/. If you have questions regarding 

the Focused Approach to Safety, please contact Jeffrey Shaw, Office of Safety 

Technologies, at jeffrey.shaw@dot.gov or (202) 738-7793. 

The contents of this memorandum do not have the force and effect of law and are not 

meant to bind the public in any way. This memorandum is intended only to provide 

information regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.