Winter-2020, Volume 14, Issue 1

 Message from the Associate Administrator for Safety, Cheryl Walker

Prioritizing Pedestrian Safety

Hello to all of our safety-focused friends! Welcome to the winter edition of the Safety Compass. The 

traditional holiday season has passed on by, and we find ourselves in the midst of the months that 

bring us short, winter days. Any break in the weather has folks with mid-winter cabin fever clambering 

to get outdoors—maybe a brisk walk or jog? 

Nearly all of us are pedestrians over the course of our daily activities and have seen or encountered 

close calls over the years. I’m an avid runner, and I often run early in the morning, before the sun is up. 

While on the running paths, I am diligent about keeping aware of my surroundings, and I am even 

more so after a near miss a couple of years ago. I was running in a crosswalk at an intersection 

controlled by a stop sign, and I was certain the driver saw me. But the driver did not see me and kept 

coming nearly at speed, likely planning to stop at a point past the crosswalk. I stopped in my tracks just 

short of the point where we would have collided. These near misses are powerful reminders that 

everything can change in an instant. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) recent report of Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data 

shows that in 2018, the total number of fatalities declined 2.4 percent compared to 2017’s total. This is 913 fewer fatalities. I 

love the thought of those 913 people going home to their families and friends each evening.

This positive news is tempered by a 3.4 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities for the same period—which is part of a 

worrisome 53 percent overall increase since 2009. My heart sinks when I see this continued uptick in pedestrian fatalities. 

A total of 6,283 pedestrians lost their lives in 2018. All of us—drivers and pedestrians—must stay vigilant while using our 

roadways.

We can do more than just increase general awareness. FHWA promotes many infrastructure improvements shown to reduce 

fatalities. Our Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) program encourages systemic application of specific, costeffective, proven safety countermeasures. In this issue, read about our recent STEP peer exchange (page 16) focusing on local 

agencies. Also take a look at the winners of the 2019 Roadway Safety Awards (page 3). Seven projects, including two for 

pedestrian safety, were recognized for contributions to saving lives on our roadways through successful engineering, innovative 

solutions, and effective programs. And, as the infographic on the following page shows, States are rising to the challenge and 

investing in highway safety improvements. The statistics are from the newly released 2018 HSIP National Summary Report.

(available here) These latest statistics show States’ progress in implementing Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) 

projects and how States are targeting their resources.

These examples, plus other strategies highlighted in this issue that improve roadway safety, show that our work is making a 

difference for all road users—pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and motorists alike.

I hope you all stay warm during these winter months. Most importantly, let’s all be safe out there!

Cheryl Walker

Associate Administrator 

for Safety
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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in this issue...

 What’s New? ......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

The 2019 Roadway Safety Awards—Recognizing Road Safety Projects That Are Making a Difference..................................................... 3

Third Edition of the Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook Now Online!........................................................................................................................ 4

A Second “Go-Around” for the National Roundabouts Week Campaign ............................................................................................................... 4

 Safety Data and Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 5

Crash Trees: A Useful (and Now Automated) Tool for Systemic Safety Analysis.................................................................................................. 5

SHSP Evaluation–It Does Make a Difference! ...................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Roadway Safety Data Capabilities Assessment Final Report.......................................................................................................................................10

 Safety-Driven Changes and Improvements................................................................................................................. 11

Low-Cost Safety Countermeasures: Small Changes Make a Big Difference on Rural Roads.........................................................................11

NTSB Determines Cause of FIU Pedestrian Bridge Collapse, Issues New Recommendations for Bridge Structures...........................13

Systemic Safety Improvements on Rural Roadways on the Lake Transverse Reservation..............................................................................14

 Learning Together..............................................................................................................................................................16

Agencies Are Inspired to Action During Pedestrian Safety Peer Exchanges ........................................................................................................16

Teaching Pedestrian and Bicycle Concepts to the Next Generation of Transportation Leaders..................................................................17

IHSDM Update: Release 15.0.0 Now Available! ................................................................................................................................................................18

NDS Pooled Fund Is Sponsoring New Research ..............................................................................................................................................................19

Cognitive Considerations in the Classroom .......................................................................................................................................................................21

 Announcements................................................................................................................................................................. 23

Upcoming Conferences and Events.......................................................................................................................................................................................23

Rural Roadway Departure Video.............................................................................................................................................................................................23

Visit the FHWA Office of Safety at Booth 721 in the TRB Exhibit Hall! ...................................................................................................................24

By the Numbers: States’ Investments in Highway Safety
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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WHAT’S NEW?

The 2019 Roadway Safety 

Awards—Recognizing Road 

Safety Projects That Are 

Making a Difference

By Norah Ocel, P.E., FHWA Office of Safety

On October 23, 2019, seven 

transportation safety projects were 

recognized for their contributions to 

saving lives on our Nation’s 

roadways. In a ceremony that took 

place at the United States Capitol in 

Washington, DC, the Roadway 

Safety Foundation (RSF) and the 

Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) gave awards for projects 

that involved successful engineering 

and operational solutions, were 

innovative and effective, and moved 

the nation closer to reducing the 

number of fatalities and serious 

injuries on our roads. 

Representatives from five State 

departments of transportation (DOT) 

and one county were on hand to 

accept the awards.

The awards were given in two 

categories: infrastructure and 

operational improvements and 

program planning, development, and 

evaluation.

Infrastructure and operational 

improvements 

Missouri Department of 

Transportation (MoDOT): U.S. 63 

Road Safety Assessment and Safety 

Improvements. Public outreach,

median U-turn solutions, and a 

roadway safety assessment reduced 

injury crashes at three intersections 

on U.S. 63 in north central Missouri.

In 4 years, total crashes have been 

reduced by 50 percent, and four fatal 

and eight serious injury crashes 

were reduced to zero! 

Arizona Department of 

Transportation (ADOT): Wrong-Way 

Driving Detection System. The firstin-the-nation wrong-way driver 

detection system was implemented 

in Phoenix using thermal cameras to 

detect and track wrong-way vehicles. 

It was a success, providing 

immediate alerts to State troopers 

that resulted in quick responses to 

incidents. 

South Dakota Department of 

Transportation (SDDOT): Application 

of High-Friction Surface Treatment in 

Winter Road Conditions. Highfriction surface treatments at 15 

horizontal curves in Black Hills, 

South Dakota, reduced road 

departure crashes, where winter 

road conditions were a contributing 

factor, by 78 percent in the first 2 

years.

Program planning, development, 

and evaluation

Florida Department of Transportation 

(FDOT) (2 awards):

• Design-Build Push Button 

Contract. The Design-Build 

Push Button (DBPB) contract is 

an innovative program designed 

to accelerate the process of 

constructing traffic safety 

improvements. Using the DBPB 

approach, the time required for 

safety improvements to go from 

concept to reality has been 

reduced by up to 75 percent.

Award winners were recognized at a luncheon where they mingled with FHWA 

officials and other winners from across the country. (Source: RSF)

2019 roadway safety award winners 

and RSF and FHWA officials. (Source: 

RSF)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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• Alert Today Florida 

Bicycle/Pedestrian Initiative.

Alert Today Florida is FDOT’s 

comprehensive pedestrian and 

bicycle safety program that 

brings together stakeholders 

across the State and focuses on 

improving pedestrian and 

bicycle safety and driving down 

pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, 

injuries, and crashes.

Virginia Department of 

Transportation (VDOT) (2 awards): 

• Data and Technology-Driven 

Strategic Guardrail Management 

Program. Through technology 

and innovations, VDOT 

advances its investment in 

guardrails by improving 

hundreds of the lowest 

functioning guardrail terminals at 

the highest risk locations across 

the State, maximizing safety 

return and better protecting the 

safety of the traveling public.

• Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.

VDOT’s Pedestrian Safety 

Action Plan and interactive 

online map is a national model 

for systemic analysis to identify 

pedestrian safety improvements. 

VDOT quickly moved toward 

implementation with local 

partners, funding pedestrian 

safety projects across the 

commonwealth.

An honorable mention also went to 

Garfield County, Washington, for its 

Road Improvement Safety Plan, a 

cornerstone of its long-term, 

comprehensive plan for investing in 

rural roadway safety.

For more information, contact Norah 

Ocel at norah.ocel@dot.gov. 

To listen to a Federal News Radio 

story on the awards, visit 

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/fede

ral-drive/2019/10/fha-auto-safetygroup-honor-efforts-to-engineer-lifesaving-projects/.

Third Edition of the 

Highway-Rail Crossing 

Handbook Now Online!

By Kelly Morton, FHWA Office of Safety

The new 2019 edition of the 

Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook is 

a joint publication from FHWA and

the Federal Railroad Administration 

(FRA) and is available today on the 

Office of Safety website at 

www.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/xings/

com_roaduser/fhwasa18040/! 

The new third edition of the 

handbook is intended to support

anyone who designs or manages 

highway-rail crossings. The 

handbook contains recommended 

safety engineering treatments and 

current noteworthy practices. 

What is covered in the new third 

edition? Fully compliant with the 

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control 

Devices (MUTCD), the new content 

in the handbook includes:

• Additional grade crossing 

layouts. 

• Synopsis of ITS Recommended 

Practice on Preemption.

• Examples of pedestrian 

treatments.

• Material on illumination.

For more information, contact Kelly 

Morton at kelly.morton@dot.gov. 

A Second “Go-Around” for 

the National Roundabouts 

Week Campaign

By Jeffrey Shaw, FHWA Office of Safety, and 

Hillary Isebrands, FHWA Resource Center

The second National Roundabouts 

Week (NRW) campaign was held 

during the third week of September 

2019. The NRW was established to 

educate the public about the safety 

benefits of roundabouts and to 

salute the State, local, and Tribal 

agencies constructing roundabouts 

in their communities to prevent 

severe crashes and save lives. The 

campaign leveraged Facebook, 

Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to 

After the award ceremony, award 

winners were given a tour of the 

United States Capitol. (Source: RSF)

Third Edition of the Highway-Rail 

Crossing Handbook. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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share information about the 

effectiveness of roundabouts, how to 

drive them properly, and interesting 

related facts. The FHWA web page 

devoted to NRW was updated with 

fresh content and can be found at 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/nrw/. The 

hashtag #roundaboutsweek was 

used to help find, link, and track 

related posts.

A metrics analysis of reaches—the 

number of people seeing the 

content—provided by the social 

media team in the FHWA Office of 

Public Affairs revealed encouraging 

takeaways for FHWA social media 

channels during NRW, as compared 

to the prior 2-week baseline activity.

Clearly, roundabouts can be a hot 

and exciting topic! What’s more, 

there were two FHWA Tweets during 

NRW that made the daily top 50 

from Federal agencies, a first for 

FHWA. These two Tweets were 

ranked #35 and #44 on their 

respective days. Additionally, 

internet search results suggest there

were several hundred other 

roundabouts-related posts 

throughout the week, including some 

from familiar road safety partners, 

such as the National Safety Council 

and the National Association of 

County Engineers. However, it was 

the debut of the newest action hero 

—Professor Roundabout—that was 

arguably the most entertaining. 

Major kudos go out to the City of 

Hilliard, Ohio, and Deputy City 

Engineer Letty Schamp for this 

wonderfully creative public outreach 

effort. We’re all rooting for Professor 

Roundabout to use her 

#RoundaboutsRules superpowers to 

defeat Major Chaos once and for all!

As we close the books on NRW 

2019, let’s remember why we’re all 

working hard to build more 

roundabouts: they can reduce 

crashes that result in injuries and 

fatalities by approximately 80 

percent. As our new Associate 

Administrator for Safety, Cheryl 

Walker, stated in our NRW promo 

video, “Each roundabout we build is 

one more step toward our goal of 

zero deaths.”

For more information, contact Jeff 

Shaw at jeffrey.shaw@dot.gov. 

SAFETY DATA AND ANALYSIS

Crash Trees: A Useful (and 

Now Automated) Tool for 

Systemic Safety Analysis

By Karen Scurry, FHWA Office of Safety, and 

Frank Gross, VHB

The systemic approach to safety 

management seeks to identify and 

treat locations with the greatest 

potential for safety improvement 

based on site-specific geometric and 

operational attributes known to 

increase crash risk. The image to the 

right illustrates the six-step systemic 

approach, detailed in FHWA’s 

Systemic Safety Project Selection 

Tool.

The systemic approach starts with 

identifying focus crash types, focus 

facility types, and risk factors. Focus 

crash types typically represent the 

greatest number of severe crashes 

National Roundabouts Week and 

social media hashtag (Source: FHWA)

.

Social media research of the National Roundabouts Week outreach campaign. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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across the roadway network of 

interest and provide the greatest 

potential to reduce fatalities and 

serious injuries. Emphasis areas 

from State Strategic Highway Safety 

Plans (SHSP), County Road Safety 

Plans (CRSP), and Local Road 

Safety Plans (LRSP) are good 

places to start to identify focus crash 

types. Emphasis areas may include 

high-level crash categories (focus 

crash types) such as roadway 

departure, intersections, 

pedestrians, impaired driving, or 

speeding. From here, an analyst 

might define the focus crash type as 

“fatal and serious injury roadway 

departure crashes.” Another focus 

crash type might include fatal and 

serious injury pedestrian crashes. 

Once an agency identifies focus 

crash types, there is a need to 

further identify focus facility types 

and risk factors.

Focus facility types are roadways on 

which the focus crash type most 

frequently occurs. For instance, fatal 

and serious injury roadway 

departure crashes may occur most 

frequently on rural, two-lane 

undivided roads. Risk factors are 

characteristics associated with 

locations where targeted crash types 

occurred. For example, risk factors 

for fatal and serious injury roadway 

departure crashes on rural, two-lane 

undivided roads may include 

presence of horizontal curves, 

narrow pavement width, and steep 

roadside slopes. 

Crash trees are a useful tool to help 

identify focus facility types and 

potential risk factors for further 

analysis. A crash tree is a visual 

representation of crashes, where 

each branch represents a variable of 

interest. The flow chart above is an 

example crash tree for statewide 

fatal and serious injury roadway 

departure crashes. The variables of 

interest are area type (rural or 

urban), median type (undivided or 

divided), and number of lanes (2, 3, 

or 4+).

Typically, focus facility type 

represents the greatest number of 

focus crashes. In the example crash 

tree provided above, the crash tree 

indicates that of the 4,400 statewide 

fatal and serious injury roadway 

departure crashes, 48 percent 

occurred on rural, two-lane 

undivided roads, which could be 

selected as the focus facility type. 

Example crash tree for statewide fatal and serious injury roadway departure crashes. 

(Source: FHWA)

Systemic approach to safety 

management. (Source: FHWA)

Data tab from the Crash Tree tool. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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From a systemic perspective, this 

helps narrow the area of interest and 

number of potential miles to treat 

while still including a large number of 

crashes. Analysts might also 

consider exposure (i.e., the number 

of miles represented by each 

potential facility type) to detect overrepresentation. For example, the 

crash tree shows that nearly 50 

percent of fatal and serious injury 

roadway departure crashes occurred 

on rural, two-lane undivided roads. If 

rural, two-lane undivided roads

represent 40 percent of the network, 

then this suggests a good 

opportunity to impact safety.

Crash trees should start with a trunk 

and branch out into subsets of 

crashes. Each variable of interest 

becomes a new branch and each 

branch should support subsequent 

branches. Specifically, core 

branches should represent those 

variables with fewer categories. It is 

useful to start with binary variables, 

such as area type (rural or urban) or 

crash location (intersection or nonintersection), before branching into 

variables with several categories 

such as posted speed limit or 

number of lanes.

Branches may include roadway-, 

traffic-, or crash-related variables. It 

is useful to develop crash trees with 

focus facility types or risk factors in 

mind. Thinking about the focus crash 

type (e.g., fatal and serious injury 

roadway departure crashes) and 

focus facility type (e.g., rural, twolane undivided roads), potential risk 

factors might include surface type, 

lane width, shoulder width and type, 

roadway alignment, surface 

condition, light condition, and 

roadside features. It may be useful 

to develop crash trees to explore 

these potential risk factors.

Traditionally, developing crash trees 

includes using pivot tables to 

summarize crashes by combinations 

of variables, manually transcribing 

results to text boxes, and connecting 

the boxes with connector lines. This 

time-intensive process presented an 

opportunity for automation.

In response, FHWA developed the 

Crash Tree tool to automate creating 

crash tree diagrams. The Crash Tree 

tool is a spreadsheet application that 

allows users to import crash data, 

select variables of interest, and 

generate crash trees. The images 

provided show screenshots of the

data, input, and output tabs. The 

data tab shown on page 6 allows 

users to import the data set of 

interest. The variables can be text or 

numeric values, but each row should 

represent an individual crash and 

each column a potential variable of 

interest.

The input tab on the left, allows 

users to define the study area and 

study period and filter variables of 

interest from drop-down menus. The 

study area field is useful for 

Output tab from the Crash Tree tool. (Source: FHWA)

Input tab from the Crash Tree tool. (Source: FWHA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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generating crash trees for specific 

regions, counties, or local agencies 

within a larger (e.g., statewide) data 

set. Start and end years are useful 

for defining a narrow study period 

when the data set includes several 

years of data. Filters represent 

branches of the crash tree, where 

filter 1 is the first branch, followed by 

filter 2, filter 3, and so forth. After 

specifying parameters for the crash 

tree, users can click Generate Crash 

Tree and view results on the output 

tab.

The output tab on page 7 shows the 

crash tree diagram. Note this crash 

tree only shows two variables of 

interest (ownership and number of 

lanes). If filter 3 (most harmful event) 

was included, as shown in the 

screenshot on the previous page,

the crash tree output would include 

one more row of branches with a 

summary of crashes by most harmful 

event.

Crash tree diagrams support the 

systemic safety analysis process to 

help you identify and select facility 

types where focus crash types most 

frequently occur and explore 

potential risk factors. The Crash 

Tree tool, user guide, and training 

video are available for free from the 

National Center for Rural Road 

Safety. 

For training or technical assistance 

on the systemic safety analysis 

process, including the Crash Tree 

tool, contact Karen Scurry or Jerry 

Roche from the FHWA Office of 

Safety at Karen.scurry@dot.gov or 

jerry.roche@dot.gov.

SHSP Evaluation–It Does 

Make a Difference!

By Danielle Betkey, FHWA Office of Safety

Is the time approaching for your 

State to begin updating your 

Strategic Highway Safety Plan 

(SHSP)? Well, if so, now is the 

perfect time to think about 

EVALUATION!

Why, you ask? Besides being a 

requirement, evaluations provide an 

easy, straightforward way to 

determine the effectiveness of your 

SHSP. The success of an SHSP 

depends on a program of datadriven safety priorities and proven, 

effective strategies. Evaluation will 

help you achieve this goal by 

analyzing the SHSP process and 

performance and determining if 

current activities should be 

enhanced, revised, or replaced. 

So, do we have your attention yet? 

Well, it gets better! To help you 

begin the SHSP evaluation process, 

the FHWA Office of Safety is offering 

a FREE workshop specifically 

tailored to your State’s needs. The 

workshop is based on the SHSP 

Evaluation Process Model (EPM), 

which helps answer some basic 

questions about evaluation, 

including:

• What safety objectives are you 

trying to achieve?

• How well are you progressing 

toward these objectives?

• What safety programs and 

projects are successful in 

achieving objectives and which 

are not?

• How can you improve?

Evaluation also strengthens buy-in, 

showing stakeholders and elected 

officials that safety investments are 

generating results and addressing 

safety through an evidence-based 

process. It is important to remember 

that evaluation provides feedback on 

both positive and negative results, 

which can lead to course corrections 

and an improved return on safety 

investments.

What are some of the benefits of 

having a workshop in your State, you 

ask? The answer is easy—it 

provides a great opportunity to bring 

together your infrastructure and 

behavioral partners to:

• Assess safety programs and 

projects and associated 

performance results.

• Discuss and share results with 

peers to brainstorm continued 

improvements.

• Focus efforts and resources on 

the most critical problems and 

most effective countermeasures.

If you are still wondering if hosting 

an SHSP EPM workshop in your 

State would be beneficial, here are 

testimonials from Tennessee, 

Colorado, and Kentucky—States 

SHSP Evaluation Process Model. 

(Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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that have all hosted successful 

SHSP EPM workshops. 

Here’s what Jessica Rich, safety 

engineer, from the FHWA 

Tennessee Division office had to 

say:

“Tennessee adopted its first SHSP in 

2004 and has revised the plan three 

times since inception. In August 

2018, Tennessee began the process 

of updating its SHSP and felt the 

SHSP EPM workshop would be 

good for the process. Therefore, 

Tennessee hosted the workshop in 

March 2019 to fully evaluate the 

process for updating the SHSP, 

analyze areas of improvement, and 

develop new ideas. Participants 

included Tennessee Department of 

Transportation (TDOT), Tennessee 

Highway Patrol, Tennessee Highway 

Safety Office, University of 

Tennessee’s Center for 

Transportation Research, and four of 

the 11 metropolitan planning 

organizations (MPO). The workshop 

helped make Tennessee more 

aware of areas of improvement 

among the agencies involved. Some 

of the recommendations included 

developing an executive SHSP 

committee in addition to the SHSP 

committee that meets quarterly, 

conducting workshops on the SHSP 

at the annual highway safety and 

operations conference and the State 

MPO conference, and developing an 

SHSP communications plan. There 

are also plans underway to have 

mini-SHSP meetings in the four 

TDOT regions for local law 

enforcement, engineers, etc., to 

make them more aware of the SHSP 

and discuss local safety issues.”

Still need more reasons to host an 

SHSP EPM workshop? Here’s what 

Dahir Egal, safety engineer, from the 

FHWA Colorado Division office had 

to say:

“The Colorado Division hosted the 

SHSP EPM workshop in June 2019. 

Workshop participants included 

representatives from a large 

contingent of Colorado SHSP 

stakeholders, including steering 

committee members and 

representatives from National 

Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA), Colorado 

Department of Transportation 

(CDOT), Colorado Department of 

Revenue (CDOR), MPOs, 

Transportation Planning Regions 

(TPR), and others. The purpose of 

the workshop was to bring together 

steering committees, emphasis-area 

teams, and other stakeholders to 

collectively take a hard look at 

processes and performance 

outcomes of the current SHSP. The 

result of this workshop determined 

how effective the SHSP really was 

and what enhancements and 

revisions were needed to make it 

better.

“The evaluation was very useful to 

safety stakeholders and came at an 

opportune time to coincide with the 

beginning of the next cycle of the 

SHSP update. Since the task of any 

evaluation can be complicated and 

far reaching in scope, CDOT 

narrowed down objectives of the 

workshop and was keenly interested 

in focusing on certain areas. First, it 

wanted to review the process 

followed by CDOT back in 2014, 

when the update was being put 

together, and determine if there were 

any gaps or missed opportunities for 

identifying and reaching out to key 

safety stakeholders in the State. 

Second, CDOT was interested in 

briefly reviewing how the SHSP 

aligned with or complemented other 

plans, including the Highway Safety 

Improvement Program (HSIP), 

Highway Safety Plan (HSP), 

Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan 

(CVSP), Long Range Transportation 

Plan (LRTP), and Statewide 

Transportation Improvement 

Program (STIP). The third objective 

of the evaluation was to broadly 

examine and conduct a high-level 

overview of how data-driven 

methodologies were used to set 

safety targets, identify problem 

areas, arrive at a set number of 

emphasis areas, and assign 

countermeasure strategies to each 

area. The final objective was to 

identify the weakest aspects of the 

SHSP and come up with 

improvement recommendations that 

include safety countermeasures that 

are specific, measurable, 

achievable, realistic, and time 

bound. It is important to note the 

evaluation confirmed a lack of SHSP 

implementation as the key flaw in the 

2014–2019 Colorado SHSP. In 

conclusion, the success of the 

workshop may have been best 

“The evaluation was very useful to safety stakeholders and came at an opportune time to 

coincide with the beginning of the next cycle of the SHSP update...lessons learned from 

the workshop and results of the evaluation will be incorporated into the development of the 

next update.”

— Dahir Egal, safety engineer, FHWA Colorado Division
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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defined by the many takeaways for 

CDOT and stakeholders to develop 

a much-improved SHSP update in 

2019. Lessons learned from the 

workshop and results of the 

evaluation will be incorporated into 

the development of the next update.”

And lastly, here’s what Ryan 

Tenges, safety engineer from the 

Kentucky FHWA Division office had 

to say:

“In August 2019, highway safety

stakeholders participated in the 

SHSP EPM workshop, which was 

designed to assist Kentucky in 

determining the effectiveness of its 

SHSP and to identify what changes 

could be made before its next plan 

update. The workshop included a 

presentation on the general strategic 

planning process—definitions and 

examples of basic elements—as well 

as specific advice regarding steps in 

the process. It included guidance on 

roles and responsibilities of each 

leadership group—the executive 

committee, steering committee, and 

emphasis-area task forces—and 

methods and templates the various 

groups could use to set objectives 

and monitor progress. 

“The facilitator provided valuable 

examples of planning strategies that 

have worked well in other States and 

those that can be improved upon. 

Informational materials from other 

States were presented with an eye 

toward effective communication. 

Recommendations were given for 

approaches to educating the public 

and other stakeholders on highway 

safety initiatives beyond the strategic 

plan document itself: websites 

dedicated to SHSP messaging and 

one- and two-page flyers with 

effective branding strategies and 

concise messages disseminated at 

meetings and public events.

“It was very helpful to get feedback 

on the process at an early stage of

the development of Kentucky’s new 

SHSP. It was clear the safety 

community not only learned a good 

deal from the workshop, but also 

from the Kentucky perspective as 

well. Of particular utility was strategic 

planning process guidance we used 

in focus groups, terminology and 

plan outline recommendations, and 

example graphics conveying 

technical information in an easily 

understandable and compelling 

way.”

As you can see, several States have 

already benefited from the SHSP 

EPM workshop. The workshop is a 

great way to bring safety 

stakeholders together to discuss the 

SHSP and begin preparing for the 

update process. 

If you are interested in hosting a 

workshop in your State or would like 

more information, please contact 

Danielle Betkey at 

Danielle.Betkey@dot.gov or 202-

366-9417.

Roadway Safety Data 

Capabilities Assessment 

Final Report

By Esther Strawder, FHWA Office of Safety

Now Available: Second U.S.

Roadway Safety Data Capability 

Assessment (CAP2) Final Report! 

The first Roadway Safety Data 

Capability Assessment concluded 

with results showing a need for more 

training, guidance, technical 

assistance, and resources to 

improve crash, roadway inventory, 

and traffic data. It also gave FHWA 

an opportunity to develop a new 

Roadway Safety Data Program 

(RSDP) to meet the needs of States 

that want to improve their roadway 

safety data. The second assessment 

allowed FHWA to measure progress

to date and identify ways to enhance 

RSDP in new areas such as safety 

performance management. Based 

on the assessment, the nation is 

gradually improving in most areas of 

“Of particular utility was strategic planning process guidance we used in focus groups, 

terminology and plan outline recommendations, and example graphics conveying technical 

information in an easily understandable and compelling way.”

—Ryan Tenges, safety engineer, FHWA Kentucky Division

Second U.S. Roadway Safety Data 

Capabilities Assessment (Source: 

FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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safety data collection, analysis, 

integration, and management. 

The project’s final report provides an 

overview of key CAP2 assessment 

findings. While each State is unique, 

there are commonalities in the final 

results:

• Data quality management and 

data governance are not 

formally part of how agencies do 

business. 

• Roadway data completeness 

and safety analysis for locally 

owned roads continue to lag 

behind the same attributes for 

the State-maintained system. 

• States found value in 

assembling multiple agencies 

and professionals to respond to 

assessment questions and set 

goals.

• States indicated the need for a 

focused United States 

Department of Transportation 

(USDOT) effort to increase 

awareness of technical 

assistance, tools, training, and 

other resources available to 

improve States’ roadway safety 

data.

• State meetings and peer 

exchanges provided valuable 

discussions of plans and goals. 

Based on the action plans, States 

want to improve their current 

roadway safety data capabilities and 

take necessary steps to achieve 

desired performance levels. States 

indicated the desire to improve in 

most areas of the assessment. 

Particularly noteworthy, 

improvements are needed in data 

quality management; data 

governance policies, roles, and 

responsibilities; countermeasure 

selection; and performance 

management analytic capabilities. 

These findings will help FHWA 

address key needs for States 

identified in the assessment. Thirty 

States also participated in three 

CAP2 peer exchanges during 

summer 2019 to offer more detailed 

input on refining and expanding 

resources available through the 

RSDP, and to promote States’ 

noteworthy practices and programs. 

For more information, visit 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/dow

nloads/rsdp_usrsdca_final.pdf or 

contact Esther Strawder at 

esther.strawder@dot.gov. 

SAFETY-DRIVEN CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS

Low-Cost Safety 

Countermeasures: Small 

Changes Make a Big 

Difference on Rural Roads

By Rosemarie Anderson, FHWA Office of 

Safety, and Jennifer McCabe, ARA

You may think “the road less 

traveled” is a safer one, but of all 

people killed in traffic crashes in 

2017, about half died from crashes 

on rural roads. 

To combat this deadly problem, the 

FHWA is promoting proven, 

affordable solutions to agencies 

nationwide.

Many local transportation 

practitioners may feel they don’t 

have the money, time, or technical 

expertise to deploy extensive safety 

countermeasures on local and rural 

roads. When applied using a 

systemic approach, the cost savings 

can be significant. 

FHWA’s proposed countermeasures, 

including enhanced signage, 

pavement markings, speed 

management techniques, crosswalk 

enhancements, sidewalks, and road 

Enhanced signage is one systemic approach to improve safety on rural 

roadways. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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diets, offer significant safety 

improvements for relatively low 

investment.

See the Big Picture

Thousands of local and Tribal 

agencies struggle with improving 

rural road safety. These unique 

roads widely vary—straight, winding, 

paved, unpaved—and may travel 

through any terrain, from mountains 

to farmland. Crashes in rural areas 

tend to be widely dispersed, which 

can delay emergency response.

In these areas, the key to evaluating 

where and what to invest in is to use 

data to prioritize locations and 

countermeasures that will best 

mitigate risk. 

A systemic approach, recommended 

by FHWA, evaluates risk across an 

entire roadway system rather than 

only looking at specific crash 

locations. This takes a proactive 

approach to safety rather than a 

reactive one. This is especially 

valuable for rural road systems, 

where risk may be spread over many 

miles of roadway, painting a 

misleading picture of safety due to 

low crash density.

Low Cost, High Impact

Pavement markings are one of the 

least expensive countermeasures 

available to improve safety. They 

can help drivers stay in their lanes, 

stop at intersections, become aware 

of approaching curves or pedestrian 

crossings, and encourage slowing 

down. 

“Pavement markings can be used to 

create lane narrowing which makes 

the driver feel more constrained and 

slow down,” said Shaun Hallmark, 

director of Iowa State University’s 

Institute for Transportation. 

The South Carolina Department of 

Transportation (SCDOT) has 

demonstrated the benefit and 

affordability of the systemic 

approach of these countermeasures. 

SCDOT identified and targeted more 

than 2,000 locations across the 

State to receive improvements, 

mostly in the form of pavement 

markings and updated signing. The 

State wanted to reduce frequency 

and severity of crashes at stopcontrolled intersections by alerting 

drivers to the presence and type of 

approaching intersection.

“In the past, our typical approach 

was to treat hot spot locations which 

may involve a new signal or a leftturn lane,” said Joey Riddle, SCDOT 

safety program engineer. “The total 

cost of these projects was roughly 

half a million dollars. The systemic 

approach allowed us to treat 80 

similar projects for nearly the same 

price as one.”

A History of Success

The proposed countermeasures 

FHWA recommends for these roads 

come with a proven track record. 

Basic signing improvements—

advanced warning signs, speed 

plaques, and chevrons—alert drivers 

to upcoming curves and 

intersections. A simple 3-year 

before-and-after analysis of the 

Pennsylvania Department of 

Transportation’s (PennDOT) efforts 

to enhance delineation and make 

other corrections at curves showed 

that overall crashes dropped 17 

percent, major injury crashes went 

down 40 percent, and fatal crashes 

reduced 44 percent.

Did you know that adding edge lines 

can reduce total crashes by 15 

percent and severe crashes by 19 

percent? Adding these, or other 

longitudinal pavement markings, 

should be considered, even in 

locations where due to low traffic 

volumes they may not be required.

Paving the shoulder of a rural road gives pedestrians more room to walk along the 

rural roadway. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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“Edge lines are considered 

especially effective because that is 

where a driver will tend to look when 

they are drowsy or trying to avoid the 

glare from an oncoming car,” said 

FHWA Transportation Safety 

Engineer Cathy Satterfield. 

Increasing the width of edge lines is 

another trend that is successfully 

improving safety on rural roads. In 

Kansas, Michigan, and Illinois, using 

6-inch edge lines in place of 

standard 4-inch edge lines has 

reduced non-winter crashes on twolane rural roads by 15 to 30 percent, 

and fatal or injury non-winter crashes 

by 15 to 37 percent. 

Low-cost solutions can also combat 

pedestrian crashes along roadways, 

where more than 6,000 people are 

killed each year. Installing sidewalks 

and paved shoulders can reduce 

pedestrian-involved crashes by up to 

89 percent. Numerous low-cost 

improvements can also enhance 

pedestrian safety—crosswalks, 

pedestrian hybrid beacons, 

rectangular flashing beacons, 

medians, pedestrian refuge islands, 

and road diets.

Learn More

FHWA created a series of six short 

videos, entitled Low-Cost Safety 

Improvements, to help practitioners 

incorporate road safety into their 

existing responsibilities. In the 

videos, learn about low-cost safety 

improvements designed to make 

stop-controlled intersections, curves, 

unpaved roads, walking, and biking 

safer. The videos also highlight the 

use of pavement markings and 

speed management techniques to 

improve safety on a small budget.

To learn more, contact Rosemarie 

Anderson at 

rosemarie.anderson@dot.gov. 

NTSB Determines Cause of 

FIU Pedestrian Bridge 

Collapse, Issues New 

Recommendations for

Bridge Structures

By Robert Accetta, NTSB Investigator in 

charge, Office of Highway Safety, and Amy 

Terrone, NTSB Safety Advocate

On March 15, 2018, a partially 

constructed pedestrian bridge 

crossing an eight-lane roadway in 

Miami, Florida, in Miami-Dade 

County, experienced a catastrophic 

structural failure in the nodal 

connection between truss members 

11 and 12 and the bridge deck. The 

174-foot-long bridge span fell about 

18.5 feet onto the street below. Eight 

vehicles under the bridge were 

crushed, and six people died, 

including a bridge worker. Ten 

others were injured.

The pedestrian bridge was under 

construction as part of the Florida 

International University (FIU) 

UniversityCity Prosperity Project. On 

the day of the collapse, a 

construction crew was working on 

retensioning the post-tensioning rods 

within member 11, connecting the 

bridge canopy and the deck at the 

north end.

In October, the National 

Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) 

determined the probable cause of 

this tragic accident was load and 

capacity calculation errors made in 

the design of the main span truss 

member 11/12 nodal region and 

connection to the bridge deck. 

Contributing to the collapse was an 

inadequate peer review, which failed 

to detect the calculation errors in the 

bridge design. 

While the span was being 

prefabricated in a construction yard 

next to the roadway before it was 

placed over the roadway, workers 

had documented cracks on the north 

and south end of the bridge. After 

the bridge span was moved and 

placed onto the piers and the 

diagonal supports 2 and 11 were 

detensioned, cracks at the north end 

11/12 nodal region continued to 

widen. During its post-accident 

Bridge collapse. (Source: NTSB)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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investigation, NTSB found the cracks 

were more than 40 times larger than 

the maximum considered acceptable 

in a pre-stressed reinforced concrete 

bridge. The engineer of record’s 

failure to identify the significance of 

structural cracking observed in this 

node before the collapse, and failure 

to obtain an independent peer 

review of the remedial plan to 

address the cracking, further 

contributed to the collapse. 

Additionally, the failure to cease 

bridge work and close SW 8th Street 

to protect public safety contributed to 

the severity of the collapse outcome.

Through its investigation, NTSB 

made 30 significant findings—but 

four key safety issues stood out:

1. Bridge design errors and 

unique bridge characteristics 

and mechanisms of failure.

The uniqueness of designing a 

concrete truss bridge led to the 

circumstances that accounted 

for the collapse of the pedestrian 

bridge. 

2. Independent peer review of 

complex bridge design. Errors 

in design may occur, but 

systems that were in place to 

catch those errors also failed.

3. Shortcomings in oversight 

and evaluation of and 

response to significant 

observed bridge structure 

distress prior to collapse. As 

soon as the bridge had to 

support its own 

weight, cracks 

appeared at the 

under-designed 

nodes, 

particularly node 

11/12. Over the 

next 19 days, 

the cracks grew 

until the bridge 

collapsed. The 

construction and 

inspection firms 

working on the 

bridge were 

aware of the 

cracks and 

reported the 

cracks to the design firm, asking 

for guidance. The engineer of 

record at the design firm 

repeatedly indicated the cracks 

were of no safety concern. 

4. Lack of redundancy 

guidelines in specifications 

for pedestrian and concrete 

truss bridges. The design of 

the pedestrian bridge did not 

include redundancy in the bridge 

load path. As a result, when the 

11/12 nodal region failed, the 

bridge collapsed. 

Based on its investigation of the 

bridge collapse, NTSB issued 11 

safety recommendations in total, 

with one issued to the Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA).

Specific to actions the FHWA should 

take to help prevent such a future 

accident, the NTSB recommended 

that FHWA assist AASHTO with 

developing a requirement that 

concrete bridge structures be 

designed with reasonable estimates 

for interface shear demand, the 

cohesion and friction contributions to 

interface shear capacity, and the 

clamping force across the interface 

shear surface.

To read the final report and all the 

related recommendations, visit the 

accident page on the NTSB website. 

To view the board meeting 

presentations, visit the event 

summary page on the NTSB 

website. 

Systemic Safety 

Improvements on Rural 

Roadways on the Lake 

Transverse Reservation

By Adam Larsen, FHWA Tribal 

Transportation Program

The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate 

(SWO) Tribe of the Lake Traverse 

Reservation is improving roadway 

safety through systemic application 

of two proven safety 

countermeasures: edge-line rumble 

stripes and multiple low-cost 

countermeasures at stop-controlled 

intersections. 

Through a grant from the FHWA 

Tribal Transportation Program 

Safety Fund (TTPSF), provided 

through the FHWA Office of Tribal 

Robert Accetta with Chairman Sumwalt at accident scene. (Source: 

NTSB)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

– 15 –

Transportation, the SWO Tribe 

installed 30.6 miles of narrow-width 

(8-inch) rumble stripes on roadways 

with little or no shoulder, and 

installed multiple low-cost 

countermeasures at 13 rural, stopcontrolled intersections. Similar to 

the Highway Safety Improvement 

Program (HSIP), projects funded by 

the TTPSF must be data driven and 

identified in a transportation safety 

plan. 

The SWO Tribe developed a 

transportation safety plan using the 

five-step process developed by the 

University of Wyoming, combining 

crash data and qualitative field 

observations to identify not only 

high-crash locations but also 

systemic safety risks. This study 

evaluated crash data from 2004–

2013 and found 1,065 recorded 

crashes for the SWO Tribe. Thirty 

percent of these crashes resulted in 

injury and 3 percent were fatal, 

compared to all crashes in South 

Dakota, in which 24 percent involved 

an injury and only 1 percent resulted 

in fatalities. Among the crash data 

for the Lake Traverse Reservation, 

46 percent of reported crashes were 

off-roadway crashes, which align 

with the crash experience in the rest 

of South Dakota. There was also a 

high instance of intersection-related 

crashes (20 percent of all crashes on 

the Lake Traverse Reservation). 

The resulting SWO Roadway Safety 

Improvement Plan identifies safety 

improvements both to address 

locations and risks. High-crash 

concentrations are identified at 

several intersections on the 

reservation. These locations 

received safety enhancements, 

including installation of oversized 

stop signs, supplemental installation 

of a left-side stop sign, LED-flashing 

borders around stop signs, 

advanced transverse rumble strips, 

and stop-ahead warning signs.

The crash data also identified 

roadway departure as a concern, but 

such crashes were scattered across 

the roadway network rather than at a 

specific location. As a result, the 

plan recommends systemic 

improvement on corridors with the 

highest risk for fatal or serious injury 

roadway departure crashes. 

Systemic improvements include 

enhanced signing and rumble-stripe 

installations, such as those recently 

installed with the TTPSF grant.

Cliff Eberhardt of SWO reflected on 

the project saying, “The SWO 

Roadway Safety Improvement 

Project has been a very popular 

project for the Lake Traverse 

Reservation. With the safety funds, 

we were able to create a stand-alone 

project which was geared specifically 

toward transportation safety. We 

have already seen some results from 

the project and hope to include other 

routes in the near future. We have a 

long way to go with transportation 

SWO installed 30.6 miles of 8-inch-wide rumble strip along two-lane rural roads on 

the Lake Traverse Reservation. The rumbles have been fog sealed and a 4-inch white 

strip will be added later. (Source: FHWA)

Standard drawings from the SDDOT for 

rumble strips on roadways with less 

than 4 feet of shoulder. (Source: 

SDDOT)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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safety projects on the Lake Traverse 

Reservation.”

In the United States, rumble strips 

and stripes have been extensively 

deployed with great success along 

major highways with wide shoulders. 

Such installations usually consume 

12 inches of paved surface on the 

roadway shoulder and allow an 

average vehicle’s tire to completely 

drop within the rumble strip. 

However, rumble strips are an 

innovative feature on rural roadways 

where little or no shoulder is 

available. SDDOT has been 

partnering with county and Tribal 

governments to deploy rumble 

stripes on roadways where the 

typical section consists of two 12-

foot lanes, no shoulder, and a ditch 

at the edge of pavement. Such 

installations consist of a rumble strip 

that is 8 inches wide and painted 

with a 4-inch-edge-line stripe.

Andy Vandel of SDDOT stated, 

“Rural local roads account for 85 

percent of all roadway miles and 26 

percent of all severe crashes in 

South Dakota. In order to reach our 

goal of reducing fatal and serious 

injury crashes, proven low-cost 

safety improvements must be 

deployed systemically.”

According to the national Tribal 

Transportation Strategic Safety Plan, 

more than 60 percent of fatal 

crashes in Tribal areas involve 

roadway departure. FHWA 

recommends transportation safety 

plans developed by Tribes address 

roadway departure and other topics 

identified in the national Tribal 

Transportation Safety Plan. Among 

the recommendations in the plan, 

FHWA encourages Tribes to pursue 

systemic application of low-cost 

countermeasures to combat 

roadway departure crashes. 

For more information, contact Adam 

Larsen at adam.larsen@dot.gov. 

LEARNING TOGETHER

Agencies Are Inspired to 

Action During Pedestrian 

Safety Peer Exchanges

By Becky Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety

The National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA) released 

data in October 2019 announcing 

that pedestrian fatalities increased 

53 percent between 2009 and 2018. 

Soon after, the FHWA and America 

Walks convened representatives 

from seven cities to discuss FHWA’s 

Safe Transportation for Every 

Pedestrian (STEP) program and 

share best practices for improving 

pedestrian safety. Participants 

discussed a wide range of 

strategies, including partnerships 

with public health agencies, 

innovative crash data analysis

approaches, corridor studies focused 

on pedestrian crossings, and 

leveraging State agency 

maintenance activities to improve 

safety locally. Attendees came from 

Ann Arbor and Flint, Michigan; 

Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South 

Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; 

Richmond, Virginia; Chapel Hill, 

North Carolina; and Little Rock, 

Arkansas. 

The City of Little Rock hosted the 

event on October 23 and 24, 

beginning with a walking tour 

through downtown and the riverfront; 

the peer exchange included other 

walking tours of local transportation 

projects and corridors. Most of the 

cities’ attendees had been meeting 

for more than a year via conference 

calls, as part of America Walks’ 

Road to Zero program. The peer 

exchange in Little Rock was the first 

opportunity for attendees to meet in 

person and be joined by staff from 

Ann Arbor and Charleston—two 

cities known for innovative and 

inclusive approaches to improving 

pedestrian safety. 

Earlier in 2019, three other States 

hosted pedestrian safety peer 

exchanges. Participants at these 

events and the Little Rock meeting 

discussed several common issues. 

City staff discussed the challenges 

and benefits of implementing STEP 

countermeasures. Attendees who 

Keith Benjamin (City of Charleston, South 

Carolina) presents with Joshua Johnson 

(SCDOT) on partnerships to improve 

pedestrian safety through planning and 

maintenance programs. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

– 17 –

did not represent government 

agencies asked where to find and 

how to use crash data to better 

advocate for pedestrian safety. 

Participants agreed that saving the 

lives of people walking along and 

crossing roads is an urgent but 

complex issue. 

Following the death of students 

crossing busy roads in Morgantown 

at West Virginia University (WVU), 

stakeholders came together in June 

2019 to identify opportunities for 

improving pedestrian safety locally. 

The peer exchange included 

members of the Morgantown 

Pedestrian Safety Task Force, the 

West Virginia Division of Highways 

(WVDOH), FHWA, WVU, the West 

Virginia Local Technical Assistance 

Program (LTAP), elected officials, 

and representatives of similarly sized 

municipalities in the region. The 2-

1/2-day event included a Road 

Safety Audit (RSA) of one of 

Morgantown’s high-concern 

corridors. Peer exchange 

participants agreed it would be 

beneficial to standardize RSAs in 

future corridor studies for pedestrian 

safety improvements. 

In late August 2019, more than 40 

participants from more than 20 

agencies across Arizona met to 

share experiences and ideas for 

improving pedestrian safety in the 

State. The Arizona STEP team—

comprised of volunteers and staff 

from cities, Arizona Department of 

Transportation (ADOT), and the 

FHWA Arizona Division office—

organized the peer exchange in 

Phoenix. Following a series of 

presentations from transportation 

agencies, participants met in groups 

of small and midsized cities, large 

cities, metropolitan planning 

organizations (MPO), and Tribal 

groups to discuss common 

challenges and opportunities for 

improving pedestrian safety. Juan 

Guerra, an engineer from the City of 

Nogales, Arizona, applauded FHWA 

and ADOT for organizing the event. 

“I learned that while every 

community has a different culture in 

regard to pedestrian and biking 

facilities, in the end we all (small, 

medium, and large cities) face the 

same issues to address so many 

pedestrian and bicycle needs that 

grow according to the population 

growth.”

The Illinois Department of 

Transportation (IDOT) organized a 

pedestrian safety peer exchange 

that included more than 100 

participants across Illinois and from 

several adjoining states, including 

Missouri, Michigan, and Indiana. The 

2-day event occurred in September 

in Champaign, Illinois. Presentations 

described approaches to using data 

for making decisions, the role of 

speed in pedestrian safety, and 

options for funding pedestrian safety 

improvements. Days before the 

event, the Illinois Center for 

Transportation released a report on 

U.S. policies for the installation of 

pedestrian hybrid beacons (PHB)—

one of STEP’s countermeasures. 

The report and speaker 

presentations challenged attendees 

to quickly advance improving 

pedestrian safety at crossings.

If your agency is interested in 

hosting a STEP peer exchange or 

learning more about resources 

available through the STEP 

program, contact Becky Crowe 

(FHWA Office of Safety) at 

rebecca.crowe@dot.gov. To request 

a STEP workshop or additional 

training, contact Peter Eun (FHWA 

Resource Center) at 

peter.eun@dot.gov.

Teaching Pedestrian and 

Bicycle Concepts to the Next 

Generation of 

Transportation Leaders

By Kristen Brookshire, University of North 

Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, 

and Becky Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety

If you teach them, they will come. 

That was our motto as we updated 

the Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) Bicycle and Pedestrian 

Transportation University Course. 

Thousands of universities, junior, 

technical, and community colleges 

offer foundational coursework for 

future transportation practitioners. 

They play a critical role in preparing 

future professionals to address 

transportation challenges and 

building skills they’ll need on their 

first day of work and throughout their 

John Landosky (City of Little Rock, 

Arkansas) leads a walking tour and 

describes a road diet project implemented 

on South Main Street that continues to 

support community and economic 

development. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

– 18 –

careers. There are more than 300 

accredited civil engineering 

programs in the U.S. and nearly 100 

accredited graduate or 

undergraduate degree programs in 

planning. The new course provides 

educators with the tools they need to 

inspire thousands of students to 

support safe and vibrant multimodal 

transportation systems.

The FHWA Bicycle and Pedestrian 

Transportation University Course is 

designed to help students recognize 

the legitimacy of bicycle and 

pedestrian modes; understand how 

policy, planning, and engineering 

practices can be improved to create 

a more balanced transportation 

system; and become familiar with 

basic policies, practices, tools, and 

design principles that can be used to 

create bicycle and pedestrianfriendly communities. The course 

content fits concisely within planning 

and engineering programs, and is

relevant for courses in policy, public 

health, public administration, or 

landscape architecture. 

The FHWA course update includes 

pedestrian and bicycle course 

materials broadly applicable to 

diverse student audiences and 

learning styles and adaptable to 

instructor needs and contexts. The 

FHWA course offers a solid starting 

point for someone new to teaching 

bicycle and pedestrian topics and 

should provide a quick reference for 

those who already teach these 

topics, but want a source for new 

resources, images, and examples. 

The materials can also be used for 

self-directed learning by those who 

already work in the transportation 

field. 

The FHWA course contains 21 

presentations with detailed speaker 

notes and complementary 

assignments, readings, and videos. 

Most of the individual lessons fit into 

one of these six broader topics:

1. Principles of designing for 

people walking and bicycling.

2. Strategies for safer vehicle 

speeds.

3. Facility and network evaluation.

4. Data collection, analysis, and 

interpretation.

5. Transit and emerging modes.

6. Public engagement and 

leadership.

An example of the breadth and 

depth of content in a lesson is 

demonstrated in the module entitled 

Safety Analysis. This lesson 

introduces current methods and 

challenges for measuring safety for 

pedestrians and bicyclists. The 

module covers specific topics like 

crash data analysis and 

interpretation, tools for 

countermeasure selection, safety 

effectiveness evaluation, and the 

roadway safety management 

process. Most lessons include at 

least one case study example. In this 

lesson, Washington, DC’s use of 

leading pedestrian intervals (LPI) at 

all eligible locations is an example 

that illustrates a system-wide

approach to improving safety. The 

recommended assignment for this 

module is a network screening 

exercise that includes a data set of 

roadway segment characteristics 

from a large U.S. city. Students are 

asked to sort the data using different 

measures of safety and discuss the 

differences. 

The course materials and an 

informational webinar are available 

for download at 

www.pedbikeinfo.org/FHWAcourse. 

If you’re already using the materials 

and equipping our future generations 

of practitioners, please contact 

Becky Crowe at

rebecca.crowe@dot.gov and share 

your experiences of how you’re 

bringing the next generation into the 

transportation field. 

IHSDM Update: Release 

15.0.0 Now Available!

By Clayton Chen, FHWA Office of Safety 

Research and Development

The Interactive Highway Safety 

Design Model (IHSDM) 2019 public 

release (version 15.0.0) is now 

available on the IHSDM home page. 

The FHWA held a Data-Driven 

Safety Analysis (DDSA) webinar on 

November 7 to introduce the new 

release. A recording is available at 

http://www.ihsdm.org/wiki/IHSDM_2

019_Web_Conference.

“The FHWA Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation University Course is designed to help 

students recognize the legitimacy of bicycle and pedestrian modes; understand how policy, 

planning, and engineering practices can be improved to create a more balanced transportation 

system; and become familiar with basic policies, practices, tools, and design principles that can 

be used to create bicycle and pedestrian-friendly communities.”

— Rebecca Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

– 19 –

What Is IHSDM?

Supporting FHWA’s DDSA initiative, 

the IHSDM is a suite of safety 

analysis tools designed to evaluate 

the safety and operational effects of 

project-level geometric design 

decisions on highways. The IHSDM 

Crash Prediction Module (CPM) 

serves as a faithful implementation 

of Highway Safety Manual (HSM) 

Predictive Methods (part C) for twolane rural highways, multi-lane rural 

highways, urban and suburban 

arterials, freeways, and 

ramps/interchanges. The complete 

IHSDM suite consists of six 

evaluation modules and the IHSDM 

Economic Analyses Tool. The 

software is available for download at 

no cost. 

What’s New in the IHSDM 2019 

Release?

• Roundabout crash prediction 

method – the 2019 release 

includes new crash prediction 

methods for roundabouts, which 

were developed under NCHRP 

project 17–70 for the future 

second edition of the Highway 

Safety Manual (HSM2).

• User-defined crash 

modification factors (CMF) –

the capability for users to define 

and apply CMFs is now 

available as part of the crash 

prediction process.

How Do I Obtain the 2019 

Release?

• Registered IHSDM users – visit 

the download login page and 

use your IHSDM username and 

password to access and 

download the new release. If 

you have an earlier version of 

IHSDM installed, a call-home 

feature will remind you to update 

to the latest version the next 

time you use the software.

• New IHSDM users – visit the 

download registration page and 

follow the instructions. 

Whom Do I Contact for IHSDM 

Technical Support?

Contact the IHSDM technical 

support team at 

IHSDM.Support@dot.gov or 202-

493-3407. The IHSDM home page

includes information related to the 

IHSDM user group, case 

studies/user applications, past 

webinar materials, and frequently 

asked questions.

NDS Pooled Fund Is 

Sponsoring New Research

By Charles Fay, FHWA Office of Safety 

Research and Development

The SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving 

Study Pooled Fund: Advancing 

Implementable Solutions, managed 

under the Transportation Pooled 

Fund program, is sponsoring new 

research using data from the second 

Strategic Highway Research 

Program (SHRP 2) Naturalistic 

Driving Study (NDS). The research 

will address priority topics in the 

areas of highway safety, operations, 

and planning. The FHWA is leading 

the pooled fund with very active 

participation from State departments 

of transportation (DOT) partners in 

determining the research to be 

undertaken. State DOT partners 

include Alabama, Connecticut, 

Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, and 

Washington. Within FHWA, three 

offices are participating: Office of 

Operations; Office of Planning, 

Environment, and Realty; and Office 

of Safety Research and 

Development. 

SHRP 2 has been a partnership 

among FHWA, the American 

Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO), 

and the Transportation Research 

Board (TRB). SHRP 2 had four focus 

areas: safety, capacity, reliability, 

and renewal. The safety focus area 

produced a one-of-a-kind data set of 

value to highway practitioners and 

researchers from many fields 

including, but not limited to, 

operations and planning. 

These data are referred to as the 

SHRP 2 NDS database and SHRP 2 

Roadway Information Database 

(RID). Together, these data provide 

previously unavailable information to 

the highway community on how 

people actually drive and use the 

roadway system in real-world 

conditions. The NDS data provide 

information on drivers and driving 

behavior, individual trip 

characteristics including events 

(crashes and near-crashes) and 

normal driving non-events (exposure 

data), and vehicle characteristics 

and performance. 

The SHRP 2 RID is a geospatial 

database that provides additional 

contextual information for the SHRP 

2 NDS trips, including roadway 

SHRP 2 logo. (Source: SHRP2 Program)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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characteristics and features that 

have been collected consistently and 

to the same data specification in the 

six NDS study States, crash 

histories, traffic volumes, general 

weather conditions, 511 information 

(including work zones) and railroad 

crossings. The RID is linkable to the 

NDS trip data and provides 

previously unavailable information to 

researchers on how drivers interact 

with various elements encountered 

on these trips. The RID, which 

contains seven years of crash 

histories for the six NDS States 

mentioned below, is also a standalone research tool for highway 

safety researchers, even without the 

NDS data, since these crashes can 

be matched to infrastructure 

characteristics and features. In the 

SHRP 2 NDS, 3,500 volunteer 

participants (females and males, 

ages 16–90+) in six U.S. locations 

(FL, IN, NC, NY, PA, WA) had their 

vehicles outfitted with small video 

cameras, radar, GPS, and other 

sensors that continuously collected 

data (ignition on to ignition off) as 

they went about their daily driving 

tasks. The majority of participants 

were in the study for 1–2 years. In 

total, 5.5 million trips were 

continuously recorded, resulting in 

more than 30 million miles traveled 

and millions of hours of video and 

other sensor data recorded. 

Hundreds of crashes and thousands 

of near-crashes were captured and 

recorded. Altogether, 2 petabytes of 

driving data were collected. 

The Technical Advisory Committee 

(TAC) for the pooled fund issued a 

request for proposals spanning 

highway safety, operations, and 

planning research. Twenty-five 

projects were proposed totaling 

approximately $8 million. The TAC 

had $2.1 million available and picked 

the six projects for research

described below. Project 

deliverables will focus on providing 

the highway practitioner with 

actionable results through 

guidelines, recommendations, and/or 

practitioner-friendly tools. 

Projects include: 

Validation of Performance-Based 

Design

Validation of Performance-Based 

Design (PBD) has mainly focused on 

crash data, expected crashes, or 

microsimulation. SHRP 2 NDS data 

provide a unique and unprecedented 

opportunity to broaden the validation 

of PBD. The objective of the 

proposed exploratory research is to 

use safety surrogates obtained from 

SHRP 2 NDS trips and event data to 

validate performance-based design 

practices on curves on rural two-lane 

roadway segments.

Investigating How Multimodal 

Environments Affect Multitasking 

Driving Behaviors

This study will us the SHRP 2 NDS 

data to examine multitasking 

behaviors when drivers are in 

environments that include large 

numbers of pedestrians and cyclists. 

Multitasking behavior refers to any 

secondary activity not related to the 

primary driving task, such as 

engagement in mobile devices, 

eating, drinking, and talking to 

passengers. More specifically, this 

study will focus on: (1) the likelihood 

of drivers engaging in (or 

disengaging from) secondary task 

activities given the presence of 

pedestrians and cyclists and (2) the 

effect of different types of crosswalks 

and bike lanes (including pavement 

SHRP 2 NDS sites. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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markings and signage) on secondary 

task activities. 

Developing Speed Crash 

Modification Factors (CMF) Using 

SHRP 2 Data

The objective of this project is the 

development of speed-related CMFs 

for the Highway Safety Manual crash 

prediction models. The SHRP 2 RID 

contains roadway and crash data for 

six States in the U.S. The National 

Performance Management Research 

Data Set (NPMRDS) database 

contains travel time data for 5-

minute epochs for the National 

Highway System (NHS). Linking 

these two databases provides a rich 

source of data with roadway, crash, 

and operating speed characteristics, 

thereby allowing research on the 

effect of operating speed and/or 

operating and posted speed 

differentials on crash frequency 

and/or crash severity. 

Incorporating the Impacts of 

Driver Distraction into Highway 

Design and Traffic Engineering

The objective of this research is to 

leverage the SHRP 2 NDS data to 

examine and quantify the impacts of 

driver distraction on perceptionreaction time and deceleration rate, 

two key performance measures for 

highway design and traffic 

engineering. This study will examine 

perception-reaction time and 

deceleration rate under several 

contexts, such as freeways, two-lane 

highways, and signalized 

intersections, and develop 

recommendations for how existing 

assumptions can be calibrated for 

applications across a range of 

settings, including different facility 

types (e.g., freeways, two-lane 

highways, signalized intersections).

Verification and Calibration of 

Microscopic Traffic Simulation 

Using Driver Behavior and CarFollowing Metrics for Freeway 

Segments

The main objective of the project is 

to leverage microscopic driving 

behavior and car-following metrics 

directly derived from the SHRP 2 

NDS data to develop guidelines to 

assist and enhance calibration and 

verification of microscopic traffic 

simulation. This project is intended 

to provide practitioners and 

researchers with new criteria to 

evaluate simulation from a 

microscopic point of view, 

complementing typical calibration 

efforts for macroscopic performance 

measures.

Freeway Guide-Sign Performance 

at Complex Interchanges: 

Reducing Information Overload

Complex freeway interchanges are 

known to be difficult to navigate. This 

study seeks to provide detailed and 

performance-based guidelines for 

guide-sign design at freeway 

interchanges. The study will examine 

freeway interchange guide-sign 

information overload thresholds by 

roadway, traffic, background, and 

visibility conditions, and the impacts 

of sign complexity on driver behavior 

relevant to safety. 

Webinars will be provided for the 

research community at the initiation 

of these projects during the first 

quarter of 2020, as well as after the 

projects have completed in 2022, 

along with other tech transfer 

activities. 

For further information on these 

projects or the SHRP 2 Naturalistic 

Driving Study Pooled Fund: 

Advancing Implementable Solutions, 

please contact Charles Fay at 

FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway 

Research Center at 

charles.fay@dot.gov. 

Cognitive Considerations in 

the Classroom

By Thomas Elliott, FHWA NHI, and Christine 

Kemker, contractor for the NHI

Much has changed since 

Eisenhower’s interstate era. The 

American Association of State 

Highway and Transportation Officials 

(AASHTO) initiated a national 

highway research program in 1962, 

the Bureau of Public Roads became 

the FHWA in 1966, and the National 

Highway Institute (NHI) began 

training transportation industry 

professionals in 1970. There have 

been numerous advances in 

technology, in both how roads are 

built and the vehicles that drive on 

them. 

But while there’s often hubbub over 

intelligent transportation systems 

and self-driving cars, we’re still a 

long way off from a nation of 

“By taking this safety training, non-experts in human factors can more effectively integrate 

the capabilities and limitations of road users into their design and operations practices.”

— Thomas S. Elliott, FHWA, Training Program Manager
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

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automated drivers. That means 

considering the human user in road 

design and operations is still 

essential for safe roads. 

While it’s broadly understood that 

highway safety relies on 

consideration and integration of 

three components (the road, vehicle, 

and road user), the human factor is 

often forgotten in road design and 

traffic engineering. The neglect of 

human factors in highway design is 

not intentional, but typically comes 

from lack of knowledge and practice 

around current information needs, 

capabilities, and limitations of 

roadway users. 

Driver errors (including 

misperceptions, slow reactions, and 

poor decisions) are a contributing 

factor in approximately 44 percent of 

crashes leading to a fatality. This 

statistic shows the human factor 

often slips through the cracks. Some 

current practices are limited by 

outmoded data (not representative of 

current driver behaviors), overly 

simple models, incorrect 

assumptions about user capabilities, 

or lack of consideration for recent 

changes in technology and some 

road users’ special needs. Updating 

roadway design practices to be more 

driver-centric can reduce this tragic 

statistic.

Almost 50 years after NHI opened its 

doors, the Transportation Research 

Board (TRB), AASHTO, and FHWA 

released NCHRP 600, the second 

edition of the Human Factors 

Guidelines for Road Systems (HFG). 

This report was designed to meet 

the ever-evolving information gap 

often present in traffic safety. 

Through extensive research and 

tutorials, the HFG aims to improve 

and justify driver-centered design 

decisions. Intended as a 

complement to existing standards, 

such as A Policy on Geometric 

Design of Highways and Streets (the 

AASHTO Green Book) or the 

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control 

Devices (MUTCD), the HFG 

provides guidance addressing the 

above limitations through empirical 

data and expert judgement. 

But how does a non-expert in human 

factors begin to apply that guidance? 

That’s where NHI comes in. NHI’s 

instructors and instructional 

designers know that without prior 

understanding of human factors as a 

discipline, integrating the HFG into 

roadway design and operations 

practices can be daunting. 

NHI’s 2-day safety training course, 

FHWA-NHI-380120 Introducing 

Human Factors in Roadway Design 

and Operations, provides applicable

support and direction regarding the 

HFG. This course helps participants 

update their design and operations 

practices based on an improved 

understanding of human 

characteristics as they apply to 

roadway safety. These road user 

factors include driving behavior and 

expectancies, as well as the effects 

of age, visual demands, and 

cognition. By studying physical and 

cognitive limitations of drivers on the 

road, highway designers and traffic 

engineers can develop a more usercentered approach in roadway 

design and operation, in turn 

improving highway safety. NHI’s 

course provides both a broader 

understanding of these human 

factors as well as modern, hands-on 

case studies to explore how to apply 

the HFG to real roadway situations. 

By taking this safety training, nonexperts in human factors can more 

effectively integrate the capabilities 

and limitations of road users into 

their design and operations 

practices. 

Meeting training priorities like this 

has always been NHI’s focus. That’s 

why, 50 years after its establishment 

by Congress, NHI is continuing 

efforts to align its training to each 

State’s focus areas. Toward that 

end, and to address local safety 

needs, NHI is offering an NHIsponsored* session for FHWA-NHI380120 Introducing Human Factors 

in Roadway Design and Operations, 

held at NHI’s training facility in 

Arlington, VA, January 16–17, 2020. 

You can benefit from this NHIsponsored offer by emailing Training 

Program Manager Thomas Elliott 

(thomas.elliott@dot.gov) to enroll in 

the January session or if you have 

other State-partnered safety training 

requests. 

*Disclaimer: NHI-sponsored 

sessions are sessions in which NHI 

waives 100 percent of the student 

registration fees for State, local, and 

Tribal government employees. Other 

sponsorship options exist for FHWA 

employees; please contact 

thomas.elliott@dot.gov for more 

details. Additional sponsored 

courses will be offered in 2020 

based on availability and demand. 

Other restrictions and exclusions 

may apply.\
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

– 23 –

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Upcoming Conferences and

Events

2020 Lifesavers National 

Conference on Highway Safety 

Priorities, March 15—17, 2020, 

Tampa, FL 

(https://lifesaversconference.org/) 

The Lifesavers Conference brings 

together a unique combination of 

public health and safety 

professionals, researchers, 

advocates, practitioners, and 

students committed to sharing best 

practices, research, and policy 

initiatives that are proven to work. 

From distracted motorists and 

pedestrians to new technologies, 

drugged driving, autonomous 

vehicles, and more, Lifesavers 

addresses the issues impacting 

roadway safety today. 

Safe Streets for Everyone: 21st 

Annual National Bike Summit, 

March 15—17, 2020, Arlington, VA

(https://bikeleague.org/summit). With 

both traditional and mobile 

workshops throughout the week, 

capped off with a congressional 

reception, the 21st annual National 

Bike Summit will put a hands-on spin 

on advocating for bike safety. 

NACE Conference & Expo, June 

2—5, 2020, Minneapolis, MN

(https://www.naceweb.org/conferenc

eexpo/default.htm). This annual 

conference will allow attendees to 

compare competing technologies 

and services, yet spend quality time 

with the solution providers and 

peers. The conference includes a 

series of sessions on topics related 

to construction and construction 

management, pavement surfacing 

and preservation, emergency 

management, local road safety 

plans, innovative technologies, and 

much more.

2020 American Society of 

Highway Engineers (ASHE) 

National Conference, June 3— 7, 

2020, Raleigh, NC 

(http://2020conference.ashe.pro/). 

The conference is expected to 

attract public and private sector 

design professionals, vendors, 

contractors, and guests from across 

the country, and provide a forum for 

networking and education on topics 

relevant to the transportation 

industry. 

Joint ITE International and 

Southern District Annual Meeting 

and Exhibition, August 9— 12, 

2020, New Orleans, LA 

(https://www.ite.org/eventsmeetings/ite-calendar/itenola2020/). 

This international meeting and 

exhibit is an international 

membership platform for 

professionals working to improve 

transportation mobility and safety. 

Rural Roadway Departure Video

Nearly 12,000 people die every year in rural roadway departures. That’s 30 people today and every day. If there were 

a way to save the people behind the numbers, would you use it? Rural lane departures are typically not found in “hot 

spots,” but spread across the State and local road networks. Using systemic analysis, risk factors can assist decision 

makers in planning where to add proven roadway departure countermeasures. 

Please watch this video to learn more about moving FoRRRwD (Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway Departures): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfdBrrl0WwU&feature=youtu.be.

Contact Cate Satterfield at cathy.satterfield@dot.gov for more information! 

FoRRRwD logo. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Winter 2020, Volume 14, Issue 1 

– 24 –

The Safety Compass Newsletter is a publication of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

FHWA publishes the Safety Compass Newsletter three times a year. We can be reached at:

FHWA Office of Safety

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE

Room E71-320

Washington, DC 20590

The Safety Compass Newsletter is available online at the FHWA Office of Safety website at: 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/newsletter/safetycompass/. 

We welcome your comments and highway safety-related articles. The purpose of this newsletter is to increase highway safety awareness and 

information and to provide resources to help save lives.

We encourage readers to submit highway safety articles that might be of value to the highway safety community. Send your comments, 

questions, and articles for review electronically to Tara McLoughlin at: tara.mcloughlin@dot.gov. 

Visit the FHWA Office of Safety at Booth 721 in the TRB Exhibit Hall!

If you are attending the 98th Annual Transportation Research Board meeting, be sure to stop by booth 721 in the 

exhibit hall to check out all the Office of Safety has to offer!

Exhibit hours will be as follows:

Sunday, January 10, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.

Monday, January 11, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Tuesday, January 12, 9:30 a.m.-p.m.

For more information, please contact Tara McLoughlin at 202-366-2176 or tara.mcloughlin@dot.gov.