BACKGROUND

NCHRP Report 500: Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan identifies proven, tried, and experimental safety strategies for each of the emphasis areas in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO’s) original 1998 Strategic Highway Safety Plan. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and state departments of transportation (DOTs) partnered through a pooled fund study to develop reliable estimates of the effectiveness of the safety improvements identified as strategies in the NCHRP Report 500 series.

Information presented in the NCHRP Report 500 series predates the Safe System approach, which is an internationally adopted framework for road safety management that works by building and reinforcing multiple layers of protection to prevent crashes from happening in the first place and minimize the harm caused to those involved when crashes do occur (UN Resolution). An increasing number of localities and states are moving toward a Safe System approach in road planning, design, and operation. To assist transportation owners and operators, FHWA developed a series of guidance documents and associated tools outlining application to the Safe System in the U.S. context (FHWA Brochure). To further support this process, there is an immediate need to provide updated, evidence-based countermeasure information for priority crash types addressed in the NCHRP Report 500 series to reflect the current knowledge base.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this project is to develop a searchable electronic toolkit that builds on the NCHRP Report 500 series to align with Safe System principles and AASHTO’s current priorities, as well as reflect the most recent research and identify new innovations to help achieve the goal of zero deaths on the nation’s roads. Successful completion of this project will (1) help transportation officials consider a broader list of countermeasures applicable to the majority of crash types; (2) improve the efficiency of countermeasure selection, link to state analysis tools, and enhance usability of the NCHRP Report 500 series; (3) provide access to the most current information; (4) advance implementation of the Safe System approach; and (5) increase practitioner awareness of the NCHRP Report 500 series. 

STATUS: Research underway.