Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 1

A Message from FHWA Associate 

Administrator for Safety, Tony Furst

Getting in Tune (hat tip to Pete Townshend) 

You don’t need me to tell you how rapidly information 

flows and what a challenge it is to stay abreast of new 

developments, changes, innovations, EDC, SHRP2, 

noteworthy practices, ways of doing business, etc. Yet as

the safety engineer for your unit, you are expected to stay 

in tune with rapidly evolving developments. We can help.

FHWA’s Roadway Safety Professional Capacity Building Website

(http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov) is designed and maintained to help you 

stay in tune.

The site includes the Roadway Safety Noteworthy Practices Database, 

which lets you search by State or by topic for innovative, data-driven 

projects your peers around the country are undertaking in the realm of 

highway safety. FHWA and the Roadway Safety Foundation recently 

presented the 2013 National Roadway Safety Awards (read more about 

the winners on page 3), and we are currently adding those practices to this 

database.

To learn directly from those who have piloted these practices, you can 

request Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Technical Assistance on a broad range of 

topics. You can apply right online, and the program requirements are clear 

and straightforward. Support can range from a simple phone conversation 

with a practitioner to a facilitated peer exchange. You can also browse 

reports from previous P2P exchanges. 

We offer a broad spectrum of training, and you can find links to what’s 

available from FHWA and from many of the professional organizations that 

provide an impressive array of capacity building opportunities.

If you want to routinely interact with your peers on a particular topic, the 

portal to these Communities of Practice is available. We started with the 

Safety Data Community of Practice and will be expanding to other topics.

I encourage you to use the RSPCB website to stay in tune, and don’t 

hesitate to tell us what we can do better.

A Publication of the Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3

In This Issue:

Office of Safety Showcases 

Resources at the 93rd Annual 

TRB Meeting..............................2

2013 National Roadway Safety 

Awards Recognize Excellence in 

Highway Safety Practices.........3

New Road Safety Resource

Targets Students, Universities,

Young Professionals..................6

FHWA Publishes New Guide for 

Maintaining Pedestrian 

Facilities Safety .........................7

RSAs Use 3-D Models To 

Visualize Safer Roads ...............8

The Highway Safety and EMS 

Connection.................................9

USLIMITS2 – A Web-Based 

Tool for Setting Appropriate 

Speed Limits ............................10

Happenings from the 

Intersections Program.............11

FHWA Launches New 

Roadway Safety Data 

Programs Website................... 13

Events and Announcements.... 13
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 2

OFFICE OF SAFETY SHOWCASES 

RESOURCES AT THE 93RD ANNUAL 

TRB MEETING

By: Julie Panna

The 93rd Annual Transportation Research Board

(TRB) meeting in Washington, D.C. was a great 

opportunity for FHWA’s Office of Safety to highlight 

its many resources. Several staff members from the 

FHWA Office of Safety participated in sessions, sat 

on panels, and led demonstrations of current 

highway safety projects. 

This year, the Office of Safety exhibit booth 

featured interactive demonstrations of online 

offerings. Attendees talked with experts and got 

hands-on demos of some of the Office’s web-based 

tools: 

• Jeff Shaw gave a tour of Signalized 

Intersections: An Informational Guide

(http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/

safety/04091/) and the Roundabout Toolbox 

(http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/roundab

outs/roundabouttoolbox/index.htm); 

• Karen Scurry showed participants the features 

of the Systemic Project Safety Selection Tool

(http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/systemic) and the

Crash Modification Factors Clearinghouse 

(http://www.cmfclearinghouse.org); 

• Guan Xu demonstrated the USLIMITS2 tool 

(http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/uslimits); 

• Heather Rothenberg gave an overview of the 

Data Dashboard 

(http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/Dashboard); 

Guan Xu gives a guided tour of USLIMITS2.

Karen Scurry gives a guided tour of the CMF 

Clearinghouse.

• Melonie Barrington walked participants through 

the Noteworthy Practices Database 

(http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/noteworthy); 

and 

• Tamiko Burnell gave a guided tour of the 

Roadway Safety Professional Capacity Building 

website 

(http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/archives).

The following are some highlights of the Office of 

Safety staff’s participation at the TRB meeting: 

• Heather Rothenberg co-chaired the committee 

on Women’s Issues in Transportation. The 

committee was honored with a Blue Ribbon 

Award this year for Community Building and 

Mentoring, receiving the award at the Deen

Nick Artimovich and Ray Krammes staff the booth while 

Karen Scurry gives a demo of the Systemic Tool.
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 3

Distinguished Lecture and Presentation of 

Awards on Monday night. 

• Mshadoni Smith presented at the ANB 25-

Highway Safety Performance Committee 

meeting on FHWA activities and initiatives and 

provided updates on the MAP-21 NPRM 

progress and impacts of changes in value of 

statistical (VSL) life calculations.

• Nick Artimovich participated in the AFB20 

Roadside Safety Design Committee meeting, 

AFB20 subcommittees, lectern sessions, and 

the FHWA Roadway Departure Team Meeting. 

He also met with manufacturers of roadside 

safety hardware and engineers from the crash 

test laboratories to discuss upcoming 

developments in their products and what crash 

testing may be most appropriate. Finally, 

Artimovich joined other members of the AFB20 

Computational Mechanics Subcommittee and 

participated in the Finite Element Analysis 

Workshop held at George Mason University on 

Thursday. The workshop discussed the latest 

developments in computer modeling for

roadside hardware and vehicle impacts.

• Karen Scurry presented FHWA’s systemic tool 

at the third annual workshop on the Systemic 

Approach to Safety. She also shared the results 

of the Assessment of Local Road Safety 

Funding, Training, and Technical Assistance at 

the Rural Road Safety Research and Practical 

Applications.

• Robert Ritter’s presentation highlighted a 

compendium of State target-setting practices 

during the National Performance Measures for 

Highway Safety: Roundtable Discussion. U.S. 

DOT staff presented information and answered 

questions on safety performance management 

requirements in MAP-21. The discussion

included NHTSA’s Interim Final Rule 

implementing MAP-21 safety performance 

management requirements as well as 

noteworthy practices and methodologies. 

• Cathy Satterfield presided at the paper session, 

Safety and Behavioral Impacts of Roadway 

Visual Information, co-sponsored by the 

Visibility Committee (AND-40) and the Vehicle 

User Characteristics Committee (AND-10). 

• Gabe Rousseau and Tamara Redmon served 

on both the Pedestrian (ANF10) and Bicycle 

(ANF20) Committees. The shared aim of the 

two committees is to make walking and 

bicycling safer and more convenient 

transportation modes.

2013 NATIONAL ROADWAY SAFETY 

AWARDS RECOGNIZE EXCELLENCE IN 

HIGHWAY SAFETY PRACTICES

By: Julie Panna

On November 6, 2013, the Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) and the Roadway Safety 

Foundation (RSF) recognized eleven exemplary 

highway projects and programs from across the 

country as winners of the biennial National 

Roadway Safety Awards. An additional project 

received an honorable mention.

“All of you here today are our partners on the 

frontlines,” said John Porcari, then-Deputy 

Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, who 

served as the keynote speaker. “You’re doing the 

hard work, day in and day out, of preventing injuries 

and saving lives—there’s no question that your 

efforts are making a difference. America’s streets 

and roads are safer than ever before, with highway 

fatalities and injuries near record lows.”

“The projects we are recognizing today, your 

projects, have real, tangible results,” said Tony

Furst, Associate Administrator, FHWA Office of 

Safety. “They are innovative. They save lives. They 

reduce injuries. They save time and money. They 

teach about the critical importance of safety. And 

they help others who want to follow your 

examples.”

The 2013 Roadway Safety Award winners pose with the 

Blue Ribbon Panel judges.

“We want to give national recognition to the people 

who are behind these life-saving projects and 

programs,” said Gregory Cohen, Executive Director

of the Roadway Safety Foundation. “No one will 

know exactly whose lives were saved and whose 

injuries were prevented because of the work of 
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 4

these heroes. For that reason, these safety 

professionals are rarely recognized in the way other 

heroes are, but they remain dedicated to saving 

lives every day.”

For more than a decade, the Federal Highway 

Administration and the Roadway Safety Foundation

have partnered to sponsor this prestigious, national 

awards program. Every two years, this program 

recognizes the “best of the best” using 

effectiveness, innovation, and efficient use of 

available resources as criteria for determining the 

winning projects.

Project categories include infrastructure 

improvements; operational improvements; and 

program planning, development, and evaluation. 

Brief summaries of each winning project follow with 

more detailed descriptions appearing in the 

National Road Safety Awards 2013 Noteworthy 

Practices Guide, which is available at: 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadwaysafetyawards/20

13/npg2013.pdf

Winners: Infrastructure Improvements 

Category

Tennessee: The J-Turn Experiment

The Tennessee Department of Transportation was 

recognized for its systematic application of J-Turn 

intersections to restrict access and minimize points

of conflict as a means of reducing high rates of 

statewide intersection-related crashes. The

agency’s implementation of new J-Turns at four 

locations led to an impressive 81% reduction in 

overall crashes and a 100% reduction in fatalities.

Kentucky: High Friction Surfacing Treatment 

(HFST) Crash Reduction Program

Interstate Road Management Inc. (IRM) was 

recognized for its work with the Kentucky 

Transportation Cabinet (KTC) on a program to 

apply a high friction surfacing treatment (HFST) to 

26 pilot locations and 75 locations statewide to 

improve pavement friction and reduce roadway 

departure crashes on horizontal curves. When 

compared with previous 3-year crash data, wetweather roadway departure crashes dropped from 

357 to 33 at sites where HFST had been applied.

Alabama: Raised Pavement Markers – A LowCost Alternative for Run-off-the-Road Crashes

The Alabama Department of Transportation 

received an award for its program to systematically 

install raised pavement markers (RPM) on rural 

roads to improve sight distance recognition and 

provide guidance along the edge of the pavement, 

especially during wet-weather conditions at night. 

Based on 2009-2012 crash data, crashes on the 

initial 10 roadways treated dropped from 224 to 33, 

fatalities dropped from 7 to zero, and injuries 

dropped from 152 to 10.

Winners: Operational Improvements 

Category

New York: Inexpensive Nighttime Inspection 

Kits to Improve Rural Sign Safety

Cornell University Local Roads Program (CLRP) 

was recognized for its project involving three 

County Highway Departments in western New 

York. This project created a sharing agreement that 

gave each agency access to a retroreflectometer to

inspect local signs in support of the new Manual on 

Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) sign 

retroreflectivity standards. As part of this project,

CLRP developed 50 sign inspection kits, each 

costing less than $50, that the counties used to 

quickly and accurately perform nighttime sign

inspections. This resulted in reduced overtime 

costs and reductions in the number of unnecessary 

sign replacements each year.

Connecticut: Rotary Conversion to 

Roundabout, Route 80 at Route 81

The State of Connecticut received an award for its 

efforts to replace a number of old rotaries with 

modern roundabouts as a means of reducing 

speeds and improving safety at these sites. 

Comparing the latest available 3-year period 

(2009–2011) crash history at the Route 80 at Route

81 roundabout to the 2005–2007 rotary data, the 

total number of crashes was reduced from 20 to 10, 

the number of injury crashes was reduced from 6 to 

1, and the number of injuries was reduced from 7 to 

1.

Idaho: Winter Performance Measure System

The Idaho Department of Transportation was 

recognized for its project to develop a first-of-itskind Winter Performance Measure system. This 

program was designed to measure the

effectiveness of winter weather treatments and their 

impact on driver safety and mobility. IDT’s use of 

this program has contributed to a reduction in 

roadway departures that occur specifically because 

of icy road conditions—a leading cause of highway
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 5

fatalities in Idaho—by more than 40 percent in 

southeast Idaho, where WPM was first 

implemented.

Winners: Program Planning, 

Development, and Evaluation Category

Washington: Automated Infrared Camera 

System

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) and the 

Washington State Department of Transportation 

(WSDOT) were recognized for their efforts to 

reduce the number of fatal and injury accidents 

involving commercial vehicles on Washington State 

roadways using a modified commercial-off-the-shelf 

technology to create the Automated Infrared 

Camera System (AIRS), an automated brake 

inspection tool. Using a camera system embedded 

into the roadway, AIRS inspects each commercial 

vehicle’s brake system as it enters a weigh station 

at ordinary travel speeds. 

Idaho: Highway Safety Corridor Analysis 

Project

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) 

received an award for its innovative, data-driven 

program to conduct safety analyses on roadways 

throughout the State—an effort encompassing 

5,000 miles of roadway across six districts. Building 

on a pilot effort to examine rural road safety, this 

program reevaluated the way safety projects are 

assessed and ranked to improve both cost 

effectiveness and overall safety results. As a result, 

the agency was able to develop a list of ranked 

safety improvement projects reflecting the most 

effective use of funding for safety projects.

New Jersey: Road Safety Audits – Engineering 

Guidance for Fatality Reduction

Rutgers’ Center for Advanced Infrastructure and 

Transportation (CAIT) Transportation Safety 

Resource Center (TSRC) was recognized for its 

efforts to increase New Jersey’s focus on local and 

regional high-crash locations. CAIT engineers 

conducted focused screenings to identify regional 

high-crash locations and communicated with local 

authorities to obtain inputs about perceived risk. 

The results formed the basis for a proactive 

approach that incorporated both local perceptions 

of risk and crash history as opposed to crash 

history alone. Working with New Jersey’s Road 

Safety Audit program, CAIT and its local and 

regional partners have brought about an increased 

focus on intersection and pedestrian safety and 

helped provide tailored solutions to each problem 

area. 

Winners: Program Planning, 

Development, and Evaluation Category

Louisiana: South Central Regional 

Transportation Safety Plan

The South Central Regional Transportation Safety 

Plan (SCRTSP) was recognized for being the first 

regional, data-driven action plan developed in 

Louisiana as part of the State’s efforts to implement 

its Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). Created 

with the support of Federal, State, and local 

agencies, the action plan helps to identify regional 

and local projects that will address four safety

emphasis areas: occupant protection, alcoholrelated driving, crashes involving young drivers, 

and infrastructure. As a result of the SCRTSP,

there have already been measured reductions in 

After attaching an inspection panel from CLRP’s inspection kit to a sign, a simple handheld flashlight is used to inspect a sign’s retroreflectivity against the inspection panel 

(actual inspections are performed at night).
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 6

alcohol-related serious injuries as well as in serious 

injuries resulting from lack of seatbelt use.

Michigan: usRAP Safety Improvement Plan for 

County Roads in Genesee County

In 2012, the Genesee County Road Commission

(GCRC) in Flint, Michigan, received an award for its 

efforts to initiate a comprehensive safety 

improvement evaluation using the U.S. Road 

Assessment Program (usRAP). Assessing data on 

over 40 existing safety-related infrastructure 

elements for more than 8,600 300-ft roadway

segments, the usRAP software evaluated nearly 70 

crash countermeasures for each 300-ft segment. 

Based on this thorough review, program staff 

identified those countermeasures that made the 

best sense for the location and then selected the 

most cost-effective countermeasures for inclusion 

in a safety improvement plan. The Commission 

completed development of the plan in early 2013 

and is proceeding through the programming and 

implementation stage. 

Honorable Mention

The Parent’s Supervised Driving Program

The Safe Roads Alliance received an honorable 

mention for its work with State department of motor 

vehicles (DMV) staff from around the country, 

highway safety researchers, academics, behavioral 

scientists, educators and parents and teens to 

develop the best-practices-based Parent’s 

Supervised Driving Program (PSDP). Currently 

available in 13 States, the program includes stepby-step instructions for parents on how and what to 

teach their teen during the supervised driving 

process, including practicing in a variety of 

conditions and focusing on higher order driving 

skills.

NEW ROAD SAFETY RESOURCE

TARGETS STUDENTS, UNIVERSITIES,

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

By: Julie Panna

The Office of Safety’s new higher education section 

of the Roadway Safety Professional Capacity 

Building (RSPCB) website offers direction, insight, 

and resources to recruit and develop the next 

generation of safety professionals.

Launched early this year, the site is a central place 

to highlight research, tell success stories, and detail 

effective multi-disciplinary collaborations. It serves 

as a powerful tool linking the work of universities 

and research institutions with safety professionals 

in the public and private sectors to speed the 

dissemination of potentially lifesaving information. It 

also provides an atmosphere conducive to sharing 

information and embarking on innovative solutions 

to safety issues. 

“This website serves as a place where people can 

come and learn about what universities are doing in 

the field of roadway safety and how they are 

collaborating with state and private partners,” said 

Tamiko Burnell, RSPCB Program Manager. "It

shows what types of students are going into the 

transportation safety field and what they are 

majoring in as part of the transportation community 

related to safety."

For the student looking to enter the field of roadway 

safety, the RSPCB is an indispensable resource for 

locating both undergraduate and graduate degree 

programs. Additionally, students can read about 

other students’ successes and can communicate 

with current safety professionals and academics to 

get answers to their questions and find 

encouragement to pursue a career in safety.

Roadway Safety Professional Capacity Building website 

targets students, universities, and safety professionals.

The website links to universities and institutions 

that have roadway safety courses as well as

degree programs or clusters of workshops. “The 

criterion for listing a university is that they have a 

link dedicated to highway safety courses,” said 

Burnell.
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 7

“One of the things we noticed over the past year is 

that we were not reaching universities in the

research sector at the level we would like,” said 

Burnell. “We found that there was a need for more 

collaboration and that has been the driving force 

behind this new initiative.” 

The website features three distinct sections:

• Featured Research. This section that 

highlights significant research going on in 

roadway safety. It also features academic 

programs and professors. It highlights where 

the university is moving in terms of cultivating 

transportation roadway safety as an option for a 

profession.

• Collaboration Success Story. This section 

features stories about the collaboration 

between universities and the private and public 

sectors. This is a place where universities can 

promote what they are doing and find out what 

other institutions are doing so they can 

collaborate on projects they have in common.

• Featured Student. This section is dedicated to 

highlighting graduate or doctoral students. It

gives these students an opportunity to talk 

about their path and how they got interested in 

roadway safety. Students share some of the 

things they worked on and what they are doing 

today and hope to do in the future.

For more information, please visit 

http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/higher_ed.aspx

FHWA PUBLISHES NEW GUIDE FOR 

MAINTAINING PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES

SAFETY

By: Tamara Redmon, FHWA Office of Safety

Unfortunately, most of us have likely tried to use 

poorly maintained pedestrian facilities at some 

point in time. If you ever wanted to know things like 

who maintains the sidewalk or how to get that curb 

ramp fixed, then a new FHWA resource may be of

interest to you. The FHWA Safety Office 

recently released the Guide for Maintaining 

Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced Safety, the

primary goal of which is increasing safety and 

mobility. The guide addresses the needs for 

pedestrian facility maintenance; common 

maintenance issues; inspection, accessibility, 

compliance, and plans and 

policies; maintenance 

measures; funding; and 

construction techniques to 

reduce future 

maintenance.

One way that the FHWA 

promotes pedestrian safety 

is by encouraging States to 

provide and maintain 

accessible sidewalks or 

pathways along both sides of streets and highways 

in urban areas, particularly near school zones and 

transit locations, and where there is frequent 

pedestrian activity. Although there are guidelines 

and standards to aid in the design of pedestrian 

facilities, it can be difficult to adequately maintain 

facilities once they are in place so they remain safe 

and usable.

Many jurisdictions have laws or ordinances 

addressing pedestrian facility maintenance, 

typically requiring the adjacent property owners to 

remove vegetation encroaching into sidewalks and 

to maintain and repair damaged sidewalks adjacent 

to their property. However, the property owner 

requirements and the enforcement of these 

regulations may vary widely from jurisdiction to 

jurisdiction. Maintenance of shared use paths is 

more complicated still, since the agencies that are 

responsible for them don’t always make a practice 

of monitoring them and making sure they are in 

safe and passable condition.

Furthermore, Federal funding is not available for 

maintenance activities, and State and local 

government agencies are operating with severely 

constrained resources for monitoring and 

maintaining sidewalks and other pedestrian 

facilities. Not only is this a problem relating to 

walkability and accessibility, but there can be a 

severe liability consequence related to poor, 

inadequate, or infrequent monitoring and 

maintenance of pedestrian facilities. Until this guide 

was complete, there was no national resource on 

pedestrian facility maintenance and best practices, 

The guide provides examples and experiences from 

jurisdictions that have developed effective policies 

for selecting and maintaining pedestrian facilities in 

terms of responsibilities, enforcement, allocation of 

costs, and related issues.
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 8

other than what some states and localities had 

developed themselves. 

The guide identifies best practices and barriers for 

sidewalk and shared use path maintenance: what 

works and what does not work based on 

experience from State and local agencies. It also 

provides examples and experiences from 

jurisdictions that have developed effective policies 

for selecting and maintaining pedestrian facilities in

terms of responsibilities, enforcement, allocation of 

costs, and related issues. 

There are a number of jurisdictions that are using 

innovative practices to accomplish high-quality, 

cost-effective pedestrian facility maintenance. For 

example, some communities have initiated costsharing arrangements with private property owners 

or have developed equipment, materials, and 

procedures specifically designed for the sidewalk 

environment. Case studies feature Hoboken, New 

Jersey; Madison, Wisconsin; Fond du Lac, 

Wisconsin; Boston, Massachusetts; Brookline, 

Massachusetts; Santa Monica, California, and 

several others.

An associated research report, entitled Guide for 

Maintaining Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced 

Safety Research Report, includes a literature 

review, a detailed review of local maintenance 

programs gained through discussions with 50 

municipalities and state agencies, and an overall 

assessment of the current practice of pedestrian 

facility maintenance.

Both the guide and the research report, as well as 

many other tools and resources, are available at: 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/tools_solve/. 

For more details on these documents or the FHWA 

Office of Safety’s pedestrian safety program, 

please contact Tamara Redmon at 

tamara.redmon@dot.gov

RSAS USE 3-D MODELS TO VISUALIZE 

SAFER ROADS

By: Becky Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety

For the past decade, transportation agencies have 

been very proactive in using Road Safety Audits 

(RSAs), which are formal safety performance 

examinations of either existing or future roadways. 

For roads that are not yet built, the critical question

has been how to make it easier to identify potential 

safety improvements for transportation facilities 

before they are even constructed. One way to do 

this is by using three-dimensional (3-D) design 

visualization. To help Federal, State, local, and 

tribal agencies understand the benefits of using 

interactive 3-D visualization to assist RSA teams in

assessing the safety effects of potential roadway

designs, FHWA has just released Road Safety 

Audit Case Studies: Using Three-Dimensional 

Design Visualization in the Road Safety Audit 

Process.

While compromises and trade-offs are a normal 

part of the planning and design decision-making 

process, RSAs ensure that safety does not “fall

through the cracks.” RSAs are also an ideal tool to

ensure effective stewardship of funding; it’s more 

cost-effective to incorporate safety in the beginning 

than to reconstruct after a project is built. However,

performing an RSA during the pre-construction

3-D design rendering used during an RSA in Rhode 

Island (Source: FHWA).

phase can present some challenges. Typically, an

RSA team will review plans and specifications in a 

two-dimensional (2-D) format. For team members 

who have not been trained in interpreting these

diagrams or who do not use construction plans on a 

regular basis, it may be difficult to fully understand 

the overall design depicted in a set of plans and 

envision safety concerns. In addition, design 

drawings do not always convey risk factors that 

might exist once the facility is built. To demonstrate 

the effectiveness and benefits of using 3-D

visualization with RSAs, the FHWA Office of Safety 

worked with four jurisdictions to pilot the process 

(see table).

For each project, a 3-D model of the proposed 

concepts and designs was developed using digital
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 9

Pre-construction Stage RSAs Conducted Using 3-D Visualization

Location Project Phase (During 

the RSA) Facility Type Project Focus

Middletown, RI Preliminary Concept

(0 – 1%)

Two-lane limited access 

connector road

New roadway and 

alternative intersection 

designs

Belgrade, MT Conceptual

(1 – 25%)

Expressway interchanges New Interstate highway 

access

Prince William County, VA Advanced

(90%)

Two-lane road widened to 

four lanes

Roadway widening and 

curve flattening and 

realignment

Perris, CA Preliminary

(40 – 80%)

Expressway interchanges; 

multilane arterial

New complex interchange 

design

terrain models, design surface models, associated

2-D or 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) files, and 

other information necessary to create a detailed 

rendering of the proposed roadway and 

surrounding environment. The model also included 

signs, pavement markings, traffic signals, lane 

configurations, major landscaping, roadside 

appurtenances, and other items within the right-ofway to render a realistic visualization of the 

roadway and its environment.

For example, a drawing might not reveal that a 

structure located in the right of way constricts sight 

distance. This is where a 3-D model of the project

can offer significant benefits. The RSA team can 

easily rotate 360 degrees during the review and 

virtually walk or drive through the design. This

allows the team to visualize the project design 

realistically and identify elements that may pose a 

safety concern to future road users.

The RSA team members used the 3-D model to 

visualize the project and identify elements that may 

pose a safety concern to future road users. A 

variety of recommendations stemmed from the preconstruction RSAs using 3-D visualization, 

including adding additional left-turn lanes; 

restricting left turns from side streets; tightening 

channelized right-turn movements; and identifying 

alternative route options, cross–section options, 

intersection/ interchange treatments, and 

pedestrian/bicycle routing and facility options.

To learn more about using 3-D visualization with

pre-construction RSAs and to read case studies

from the four pilot locations, download a copy of 

Road Safety Audit Case Studies: Using ThreeDimensional Visualization in the Road Safety 

Audit Process at:

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsa/case_studies/fhwasa1

4003/. Each case study includes photographs, 

project background, key RSA findings and 

suggestions, and the benefits of the 3-D 

visualization. This newest publication will help 

agencies integrate this innovative technology into 

their RSA process. For more information about 

using 3-D visualization in pre-construction RSAs, 

please contact Becky Crowe at 804-775-3381, or 

rebecca.crowe@dot.gov.

SAVING LIVES TOGETHER: THE 

HIGHWAY SAFETY AND EMS

CONNECTION

By Jennifer Warren, FHWA Office of Safety

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a 

major component and requirement of the Highway 

Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). It is a datadriven, comprehensive highway safety plan that 

establishes statewide goals, objectives, and key 

emphasis areas, and aims to integrate the four E's 

of highway safety: engineering, education, 

enforcement and emergency medical services 

(EMS). 

Highway safety professionals are comfortable using 

engineering, education, and enforcement 

approaches in highway safety planning and project

implementation. However, the fourth E—EMS—is 

typically less familiar to them and consequently is 
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 10

represented less often in the SHSP process. But 

EMS is just as important as the other three E’s. 

EMS contributes to reducing death and disability in 

the post-crash phase, providing the last prehospital opportunity to improve health outcomes 

from motor vehicle crashes and other medical 

emergencies. Supporting a well-functioning EMS 

system and engaging the state EMS office in the 

SHSP process are key strategies for reducing 

highway fatalities and serious injuries on all public 

roads. Outreach to both the highway safety and 

EMS communities is needed to better bring the two 

professions together during the SHSP process and

toward the common goal of reducing deaths and 

the severity of injuries on our nation’s roadways.

The Highway Safety and EMS 

Connection Website

“Highway Safety and EMS Connection” is a new, 

FHWA-sponsored website that offers resources, 

tools, and guidance that support collaboration 

between EMS and highway safety during the SHSP 

process. It is being designed to offer greater 

assistance with outreach to the EMS and highway 

safety communities to educate both groups, 

support cross-discipline collaboration, and inspire 

action. This website explains the importance of 

EMS in the SHSP process and helps highway 

safety and EMS professionals to:

• Connect with one another

• Initiate collaboration

• Identify partnering and funding opportunities

• Share success stories

The new site will be launched in Spring 2014 at

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/shsp/ems/ 

USLIMITS2 – A WEB-BASED TOOL 

FOR SETTING APPROPRIATE SPEED 

LIMITS

By: Guan Xu, FHWA Office of Safety

Speeding—whether driving in excess of the posted 

speed limit or simply traveling too fast for road 

conditions—is a factor in an estimated one-third of

all fatal crashes. Setting and enforcing speed limits

are the most widely used methods for managing 

speed and ultimately in reducing speeding-related 

crashes. However, to be effective, speed limits 

must be set to correctly reflect the maximum 

reasonable and safe speed. The FHWA web-based 

tool, USLIMITS2, can help communities establish 

appropriate speed limits. 

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices 

(MUTCD)—the national standard for signing and 

marking on all public roads—requires that speed 

limits in speed zones be based on an engineering 

study of free-flow speeds and recommends that 

speed limits be posted within 5 mph of the 85th

percentile speed of free-flowing traffic. Motorists 

who drive faster contribute disproportionately to

crash and injury risk. Setting a speed limit 5 mph

higher will make few additional drivers legal but 

setting it 5 mph lower will make technical violators 

out of the nearly half the drivers.

The MUTCD also lists other risk factors including 

road geometry, the pace speed, roadside 

development, parking practices, pedestrian activity, 

and crash experience that may be considered but 

does not provide specific guidance on how to 

account for these variables. The subjectivity of the 

process often leads to inconsistencies in posted 

speeds and makes it difficult to defend speed 

zoning decisions when public pressure comes to 

bear. 

USLIMITS2 is a quantitative, web-based tool 

designed to help practitioners objectively and 

consistently account for the myriad factors bearing 

on the process for determining reasonable and safe 

speed limits. The software employs a risk-based 

set of decision rules using roadway, traffic, and 

crash data input by the user to recommend 

credible, safe, and enforceable speed limits for a

specific segment of roadway. USLIMITS2 is 

applicable to all types of roads ranging from local

FHWA’s “Saving Lives Together: The Highway Safety roads and residential streets to freeways. It and EMS Connection” web page.
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 11

FHWA's New USLIMITS2 Web Page.

provides recommended speed limits based on site 

characteristics, which include such variables as 

access density, pedestrian activity, roadside 

hazards, operating speed, and crash history. It also 

provides relevant warnings in a summary report 

that includes suggested actions for addressing 

areas of concern.

Users of USLIMITS2 include State and local 

governments, law enforcement agencies, and 

consultants. Wisconsin’s Statewide Speed 

Management Guidelines recommends that all 

jurisdictions in the state use USLIMITS2 as a

starting point for determining appropriate speed 

limits. In Georgia, local police cannot use radar or 

other speed detection devices to enforce speed 

limits on any State route, county road, or city street 

unless the speed zone was established on the

basis of a traffic engineering study and approved by 

Georgia DOT. Georgia District offices routinely use 

USLIMITS2 in reviewing and approving the speed 

zones recommended by the local agencies. The 

tool’s broad applicability and ease of use make it an 

important resource in any speed zoning study. 

Access the USLIMITS2 web-based tool at: 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/uslimits/. To learn more 

about the USLIMITS2 web tool or FHWA’s speed 

management program, please contact Guan Xu at 

guan.xu@dot.gov

HAPPENINGS FROM THE 

INTERSECTIONS PROGRAM

By: Jeffrey B. Shaw, P.E., FHWA Office of Safety

The FHWA Office of Safety – Intersections 

Program has been busy working on a number of 

activities lately. In addition to advancing 

Intersection & Interchange Geometrics through the 

Every Day Counts initiative and continuing to

promote the latest Proven Safety Countermeasures, there are two notable activities that are 

worthy of recognition.

Signalized Intersections Informational 

Guide – Second Edition

First introduced in 2004, the popular Signalized 

Intersections Informational Guide, and the 

accompanying workshop available through the 

National Highway Institute (course number 380078, 

http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training/course_search.

aspx?tab=0&typ=1&course_no=380078&sf=1), 

have both been updated. The new guide and 

workshop materials have been revised to reflect the 

latest information from a wide array of related 

policies, manuals, research and best practices in 

order to continue to serve practitioners as the go-to 

reference for evaluating the safety, design and
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 12

operation of signalized 

intersections. Intended 

to form the foundation 

for building safer and 

more efficient signalized 

intersections that 

consider and 

accommodate all users 

and modes, the guide is 

arranged in three parts: 

fundamentals, project 

process and analysis 

methods, and treatments. There is a heavy 

emphasis on human factors and user needs, and 

the importance of pedestrian and bicycle 

considerations is stressed throughout the guide. 

The strategies and treatments discussed in the 

guide range from low-cost measures such as 

improvements to signal timing or signing and 

markings, to high-cost measures such as 

intersection widening or reconstruction. Many of the 

treatments are worthy of systemic implementation.

To review or download the updated Signalized 

Intersections Informational Guide, please visit 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/signalized/13

027/. 

Renewed Emphasis on Wrong-Way

Driving

In December 2012, the National Transportation 

Safety Board (NTSB) published a Special 

Investigation Report on Wrong-Way Driving, which 

is available at: 

http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/safetystudies/SIR1201.p

df. Wrong-way driving (WWD) is a serious traffic 

safety challenge that claims an average of between 

300 and 400 lives each year in the United States. 

Based on careful review of both NTSB-investigated 

WWD fatal crashes going back to 1968 as well as 

current traffic safety data, the NTSB made several 

recommendations to FHWA, NHTSA, AASHTO, 

individual states, and others. In response to these 

recommendations, the FHWA Office of Safety has 

been working and partnering on several initiatives

designed to help reduce the number of wrong-way 

driving deaths, including:

• Participating in the first-ever Wrong-Way 

Driving Summit that was held in Edwardsville, 

Illinois, this past July 18-19, 2013. The WWD 

Summit was sponsored and hosted by the 

Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT), the 

Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) 

and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 

(SIUE). This event brought together over 120 

traffic safety professionals representing 23 

states, from Federal and State transportation 

agencies, academia, law enforcement, 

consulting and industry, to share and discuss

the “four E” (engineering, enforcement, 

education, and emergency services) 

approaches to addressing WWD. The 

proceedings from the WWD Summit will be 

published by the ICT.

• Developing a Wrong-Way Driving RSA Prompt 

List to aid practitioners and safety professionals 

in the field with diagnosing sites for WWD risks. 

This WWD Prompt List follows in the same 

format of Road Safety Audit (RSA) prompt lists 

developed previously by FHWA, but with a 

specific focus on the 

issues and challenges 

associated with, and 

potential mitigation 

for, wrong-way driving 

scenarios.

• Forming a joint 

partnership with the 

American Traffic 

Safety Services 

Association (ATSSA) 

to produce a new 

publication tentatively 

entitled “Emerging Safety Countermeasures for 

Wrong-Way Driving,” to be unveiled at the 

ATSSA Annual Convention & Traffic Expo

(http://expo.atssa.com/) in San Antonio, Texas, 

in late February 2014.

• Supporting development of a wrong-way driving 

informational guide that will soon be published 

by ICT and IDOT. This guide will serve as a 

compre-hensive, national resource to address 

wrong-way driving.
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 13

FHWA LAUNCHES NEW ROADWAY 

SAFETY DATA PROGRAMS WEBSITE

By: Stuart Thompson, FHWA Office of Safety

FHWA’s Roadway Safety Data Programs team is 

excited to announce the launch of its newly 

designed Website, which went live in January at

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/

The site’s home page welcomes visitors with a 

clean, uncluttered design and with featured content 

focused on our mission to provide our customers 

with the most accurate program information and 

share knowledge and expertise. The new site is 

divided into three main sections: Data Management, Data Collection, and Data Analysis, making it

easier for customers to locate and view information 

relevant to their interests. It has been the program’s 

primary goal in developing this new site to include 

easier navigation to content, technical assistance 

applications, and noteworthy practices, but also for 

the site to serve as a resource for safety data 

professionals.

The website will be updated on a regular basis, with 

new reports, projects, and other new content. Stay 

tuned, check the site often, and share the site with 

your colleagues as we will be adding new materials 

for our customers to use in improving their safety 

data capabilities. 

The new Roadway Safety Data Program web page.

If you experience any problems using the new 

website or if you have any suggestions, please 

contact stuart.thompson@dot.gov.

EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

ATSSA's 44th Annual Convention & Traffic 

Expo, San Antonio, Texas, February 21-25, 

2014. The ATSSA Annual Convention and Traffic 

Expo brings together Roadway Safety 

professionals and vendors in fields such as 

pavement marking, computer software, protective 

clothing, and ITS. Workshops will address a wide 

range of safety-related topics including mitigating 

wrong way driving, pedestrian access in work 

zones, use of truck-mounted attenuators (TMA) in 

work zones, work zone performance measures, 

and pavement markings and features.

For more information or to register to attend, visit:

http://expo.atssa.com/

4th International Conference on 

Roundabouts, Seattle, Washington, April 

16-19, 2014. This TRB-sponsored event will 

explore innovative and effective uses of 

roundabouts to help enhance the safety and 

efficiency of intersections. The meeting will also 

examine the international influences on North 

American roundabout design practices. For more 

information or to register, visit 

http://www.cvent.com/events/4th-internationalconference-on-roundabouts/event-summary2e5b6fd91dad4034b8060caa11f35315.aspx

ITE 2014 Technical Conference and Exhibit, 

Miami, Florida, March 9-12, 2014. This event

will focus on the challenges and opportunities of 

working with multidisciplinary teams to meet 

customer, community, and political expectations for 

the creation of vibrant regions to safely live, work, 

and play. The program will include presentations, 

peer-to-peer exchanges, technology showcases,

and workshops focused on safety, design, 

operations, and planning considerations. For more 

information or to register, visit 

http://ite.cvent.com/events/ite-2014-technicalconference-and-exhibit/event-summarybee5f7ffea4540ffbf41f324d1e6c081.aspx

2014 Transportation Safety Conference, 

Topeka, Kansas, April 21–23, 2014.

Sponsored by the University of Kansas and Kansas 

DOT, this event is designed to share and update

information from all facets of the transportation

safety community. The program features breakout

sessions on injury control, law enforcement, youth 

issues and roadway safety. Attendees include law

enforcement personnel, judges, city and county 
Winter 2014: Volume 7 Issue 3 Safety Compass Newsletter • 14

government officials, educators, engineers, EMTs

and EMS workers, bus drivers, teen drivers, safety 

advocates, and others. For more information, visit 

http://www.continuinged.ku.edu/programs/transport

ation-safety/ or contact Pam Hicks at 

phicks@ku.edu

Lifesavers 2014, Nashville, Tennessee, April 

27-29, 2014. The Lifesavers National Conference 

on Highway Priorities brings together a combination 

of public health and safety professionals, 

researchers, volunteers, and practitioners who are 

committed to sharing best practices, research, and 

policy initiatives that are proven to work. This event 

is geared towards novice as well as seasoned 

safety practitioners working at the local, state and 

national level to address the nation’s most pressing 

roadway problems. For more information, or to 

register to attend this event, please visit 

http://www.lifesaversconference.org/index.html

2014 North American Conference on 

Elderly Mobility, May 11-14, 2014. Save the 

date for the 2014 North American Conference on 

Elderly Mobility in Detroit, MI from May 11-14, 

2014. Unlike any other conference on elderly 

mobility, this conference uniquely features best 

practices, and will highlight progress in elderly 

transportation since the conference was first held in 

2004. National and international speakers will 

present in five key fields relating to elderly mobility:

• Alternative Transportation 

• Infrastructure and Vehicles 

• Driver Education and Training.

• Driver Screening and Assessment 

• Housing and Land Use 

The conference includes a roadway demonstration 

of proven engineering countermeasures to improve 

safety and navigation for older drivers. Please visit

https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx

?EventID=1322274 to learn more.

   Need assistance with safety data and analysis? 

Help is available through the NEW Safety Data & Analysis Technical Assistance Program! This 

program brings technical assistance, training, and resources help agencies develop analyses that 

integrate crash, road inventory, and traffic data to pinpoint vital safety improvements in a holistic way. 

Agencies can get answers to nearly any safety related question—from general questions, such as how to 

review and improve roadway data inventories, to specific questions, such as which statistical models are 

best to address crashes at a complicated intersection. State and local transportation agencies receive 

formal and informal technical analysis help in a flexible format, including one-on-one sessions with 

experts. Quarterly webinars open to representatives from State and local transportation agencies cover 

broader data topics to supplement the individualized sessions. 

Apply for Data and Analysis Technical Assistance at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/technical.aspx or

contact Mshadoni Smith at mshadoni.smith@dot.gov for more information.

The Safety Compass Newsletter

is a publication of the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 

Federal Highway Administration.

The Federal Highway Administration 

publishes the Safety Compass 

newsletter three times a year. We 

can be reached at:

FHWA Office of Safety

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE

Room E71-105

Washington, DC 20590

The Safety Compass 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.