Highway Safety Improvement Program and 

Safety Performance Management Measures

Final Rules Overview

Background

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and Safety 

Performance Management Measures (Safety PM) Final Rules in the Federal Register on March 15, 2016, with an 

effective date of April 14, 2016. The HSIP Final Rule updates the HSIP regulation under 23 CFR Part 924 to be consistent 

with MAP-21 and the FAST Act, and clarifies existing program requirements. The Safety PM Final Rule adds Part 490 to 

title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations to implement the performance management requirements in 23 U.S.C. 150. 

The Safety PM rule supports the HSIP, as it establishes safety performance measures to carry out the HSIP and to assess 

serious injuries and fatalities on all public roads. Together, these regulations will improve data; foster transparency and 

accountability; and allow safety progress to be tracked at the national level. They will inform State DOT and MPO 

planning, programming, and decision-making for the greatest possible reduction in fatalities and serious injuries.

HSIP Final Rule

The HSIP is a core Federal-aid program with the purpose to achieve a significant reduction in fatalities and serious 

injuries on all public roads. The HSIP requires a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public 

roads that focuses on performance. The HSIP regulation under 23 CFR 924 establishes FHWA’s HSIP policy, as well as

program structure, planning, implementation, evaluation and reporting requirements for States to successfully 

administer the HSIP. The HSIP Final Rule contains three major policy changes related to: (1) the HSIP report content and 

schedule, (2) the Strategic Highway Safety Plan update cycle, and (3) the subset of the model inventory of roadway 

elements (MIRE), also known as the MIRE fundamental data elements. 

Content and Schedule of the HSIP Report

The HSIP report schedule remains the same; the HSIP and Railway-Highway Crossing Program reports are due on August 

31st each year. All States must now use FHWA’s online reporting tool to submit their annual reports. In addition to the 

existing reporting requirements, the HSIP Final Rule also requires States to describe in their annual reports the progress 

toward achieving safety outcomes and performance targets, including: 

• An overview of general highway safety trends; 

• The safety performance targets established in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 150;

• A discussion of the basis of each established target and how the established target supports SHSP goals; and 

• In future years, a discussion of any reasons for differences in the actual outcomes and targets. 

Strategic Highway Safety Plan Update Cycle 

The HSIP Final Rule requires States to update their SHSP at least once every 5 years, consistent with the current state of 

the practice. The first SHSP update is due no later than August 1, 2017. 

Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE)

States must collect and use the MIRE fundamental data elements on all public roads to support enhanced safety analysis 

and safety investment decision-making. The HSIP Final Rule establishes three categories of MIRE fundamental data .

FHWA-SA-16-023
Highway Safety Improvement Program and Safety Performance Management Measures Final Rules Overview

elements based on functional classification and surface type, as 

shown in the table. States must incorporate specific quantifiable and 

measurable anticipated improvements for the collection of MIRE 

fundamental data elements into their Traffic Records Strategic Plan 

by July 1, 2017, and have access to the complete collection of the 

MIRE fundamental data elements by September 30, 2026. 

Safety PM Final Rule

The Safety PM Final Rule supports the data-driven performance focus of the HSIP. The Safety PM Final Rule establishes 

five performance measures to carry out the HSIP: the five-year rolling averages for: (1) Number of Fatalities, (2) Rate of 

Fatalities per 100 million VMT, (3) Number of Serious Injuries, (4) Rate of Serious Injuries per 100 million VMT, and (5) 

Number of Non-motorized Fatalities and Non-motorized Serious Injuries. These safety performance measures are 

applicable to all public roads regardless of ownership or functional classification. The Safety PM Final Rule also 

establishes a common national definition for serious injuries.

State Targets 

States will establish statewide targets for each of the safety performance measures. States also have the option to 

establish any number of urbanized area targets and one non-urbanized area target for any or all of the measures. 

Targets will be established annually, beginning in August 2017 for calendar year 2018. For common performance 

measures (number of fatalities, rate of fatalities and number of serious injuries), targets must be identical to the targets 

established for the NHTSA Highway Safety Grants program. The State DOT must also coordinate with the MPOs in the 

State on establishment of targets, to the maximum extent practicable. States will report targets to the FHWA in the HSIP 

report due in August of each year.

MPO Targets

MPOs will establish targets for the same five safety performance measures for all public roads in the MPO planning area 

within 180 days after the State establishes each target. The targets will be established in coordination with the State, to 

the maximum extent practicable. The MPO can either agree to support the State DOT target or establish a numerical 

target specific to the MPO planning area. MPOs’ targets are reported to the State DOT, which must be able to provide 

the targets to FHWA, upon request. 

Met or Made Significant Progress Determination

A State is considered to have met or made significant progress toward meeting its safety targets when at least 4 of the 5 

targets are met or the outcome for the performance measure is better than the baseline performance the year prior to 

the target year. Optional urbanized area or non-urbanized area targets will not be evaluated. Each year that FHWA 

determines a State has not met or made significant progress toward meeting its performance targets, the State will be 

required to use obligation authority equal to the baseline year HSIP apportionment only for safety projects. States must 

also develop a HSIP Implementation Plan.

Additional Information

The HSIP and Safety PM Final Rules are available at www.regulations.gov (Dockets: FHWA-2013-0019 and FHWA-2013-

0020). FHWA will issue supplemental guidance to support implementation of the HSIP and Safety PM Final Rules. 

Additional information related to the HSIP and Safety PM Final Rules can be found at

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/tpm/.

Roadway Category

Number of MIRE 

Fundamental 

Data Elements

Non-local paved roads 37

Local paved roads 9

Unpaved roads 5