FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Cathy Gillen

November 6, 2013 desk (202) 857-1203

cell (443) 463-4449 

cathygillen@roadwaysafety.org

ROADWAY SAFETY FOUNDATION AND FEDERAL HIGHWAY 

ADMINISTRATION HONOR INNOVATIVE, LIFESAVING HIGHWAY 

SAFETY PROGRAMS

States, Local Governments, and Private Sector Organizations from

Across the Country Receive Awards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — At a Capitol Hill awards ceremony, the Roadway Safety 

Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today recognized 

12 exemplary highway projects and programs from across the country as winners of the 

biennial National Roadway Safety Awards. Recipients of awards included State and 

local departments of transportation, a State department of public safety, university 

programs, and a private firm. The award winners are credited for reducing fatalities and 

injuries on our Nation’s roadways through excellence and innovation in operations, 

planning, and design. 

“All government levels are making effective use of shrinking budgets," said Federal 

Highway Administrator Victor Mendez. "The National Roadway Safety Awards winners 

developed innovative ideas to design, build and maintain roads that are safer and 

provide greater mobility for all Americans."

"Many people don’t realize that deficiencies in the roadway environment contribute to 

roughly one-third of all traffic deaths," said Greg Cohen, Executive Director of the 

Roadway Safety Foundation. "The nation’s safety professionals who plan, engineer, 

and implement innovative solutions to correct these deficiencies work tirelessly every 

day but receive little public recognition. That’s why we’re very proud today to recognize 

their efforts to help make America’s roads as safe as they can be for all who use them.”

National Roadway Safety Award recipients were evaluated on three criteria –

innovation, effectiveness, and efficient use of resources. Program categories included 

infrastructure improvements, operational improvements, and program planning, 

development, and evaluation. 
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This year’s honorees include:

• Connecticut Department of Transportation for proactively converting a rotary to a 

roundabout, resulting in a 50% reduction in the number of crashes at that site.

• Cornell Local Roads Program (NY) for developing inspection kits to improve rural 

sign safety.

• Genesee County, MI Road Commission for its proactive Safety Improvement Plan 

for County Roads.

• Idaho Transportation Department for its Highway Safety Corridor Analysis Project.

• Idaho Transportation Department for its use of innovative technology in developing 

a Winter Performance Measure System.

• Interstate Road Management, Inc., a wholly-owned company of DBi Services, for 

a Kentucky roads project.

• Mobile County, AL Engineer’s Office for its efforts to decrease “run-off-the-road” 

crashes on 10 roadways.

• Rutgers' Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (NJ) for their free

road safety audit program.

• South Central Planning & Development Commission (LA) for its proactive datadriven action plan, the South Central Regional Transportation Safety Plan.

• Tennessee Department of Transportation for its efforts to improve safety at 

dangerous intersections by implementing new J-Turn designs.

• Washington State Patrol and the Washington State Department of 

Transportation for their joint project developing an infrared commercial truck brake 

screening system.

• (Honorable Mention) Safe Roads Alliance (MA) for its efforts to educate parents 

about teen driving laws and keeping their teens safe on the road.

The Federal Highway Administration and the Roadway Safety Foundation present these 

biennial awards to agencies and organizations across the country that exhibit 

excellence in roadway design, operations, planning, and safety.

For additional information on RSF, please visit www.roadwaysafety.org; on Facebook at 

www.Facebook.com/roadwaysafetyfoundation; and on Twitter at @roadway_safety,

#RoadwaySafetyAwards. 
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For additional information on FHWA safety programs, please visit 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov; on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/pages/FederalHighway-Administration; and on Twitter at @USDOTFHWA, #RoadwaySafetyAwards.

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ATTENTION EDITORS – Digital photographs of the award winners at the luncheon in 

Washington, DC will be available. Detailed information on the award winning programs 

can be found at www.roadwaysafety.org.