"It is not uncommon to have a road that is nominally safe (i.e., all of its geometric features meet design criteria) but substantially unsafe (i.e., there is a known or demonstrated high crash problem.)"
Article / Paper / Report
A State Highway Project in Your Town? Your Role and Rights - A Primer for Citizens and Public Officials
"Consistency in road conditions contributes greatly to safety. A stretch of road that is too narrow, too curvy, too steep may in fact be safer than the same stretch with several short 'improved' sections. This is because motorists get an idea of what to expect with consistent albeit 'substandard' conditions."
Strategic Highway Safety Plans: Interim Guidance to Supplement SAFETEA-LU Requirements
A State Department of Transportation (DOT) developed Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a new Federal requirement of SAFETEA-LU, 23 USC 148, and is a major part of the core Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). This preview document is designed to promote best practices and serve as interim guidance to State DOTs and their safety partners for the development and implementation of the State SHSP, and to assist State DOTs in creating an SHSP that meets the requirements of SAFETEA-LU with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of highway fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.
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Federal Transit Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal Highway Administration
Article / Paper / Report
A Guide for Addressing Aggressive-Driving Collisions
"Aggressive driving" is operating a motor vehicle in a selfish, pushy, or impatient manner,
often unsafely, that directly affects other drivers. In many cases, the behavior results from
interaction between the driver and the driving environment. For this reason, resolving the
problem lies not only with enforcement but also with education and engineering. This guide
encourages a multidisciplinary approach that seeks solutions to the causes of aggressive
driving and not just the addressing of its symptoms.
To be successful, programs aimed at reducing aggressive driving should
1. Concentrate on enforcing all traffic laws, regardless of whether the violator's actions
affect other road users or have been linked to crashes at the enforcement location.
2. Address traffic-operations factors that affect driving and that apparently contribute to
aggressive driving (e.g., badly coordinated traffic signals).
3. Have in place a method for evaluating any reduced aggressive driving and related
crashes.
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American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officals
Traffic Fatalities and Injuries: The effect of Changes in Infrastructure and Other Trends
"...Changes in highway infrastructure that have occurred [in the U.S.] between 1984 and 1997 have not reduced traffic fatalities and injuries and have even had the effect of increasing total fatalities and injuries ... Other factors, primarily changes in the demographic age mix of the population, increased seat-belt usage, reduced per capita alcohol consumption, and improvements in medical technology are responsible for the downward trend in total fatal accidents."
-- Robert B. Noland
Highway through Aabenraa, Denmark Aabenraa,
"The three-km-long, heavily trafficked highway through Aabenraa has been converted according to the principles of environmentally adapted through roads, with due respect paid, however, to the substantial traffic flow. This has reduced car speeds, has made a coherent bicycle route network, has resulted in a falling number of accidents, and has increased the feeling of security for the light road users."
US Route 101-Lincoln Beach Parkway Lincoln County, OR
U.S. Route 101 is one of the most scenic highways in the United States; not surprisingly, it serves high local, regional, and tourist travel demands. A major conflict facing the entire Route 101 corridor was the need to provide better access to resort-oriented communities to enhance economic development while balancing the impact of capacity improvements, an issue was particularly acute in Lincoln Beach. Jurisdictions along the highway eventually approved the concept of a Pacific Coast Scenic Parkway to "increase the aesthetic experience, assist in access control, and develop community identity," despite its deviation from typical ODOT design concepts.
"Straighter, wider roads encourage greater speed. Accidents that happen are therefore more severe, resulting in more injuries or a greater likelihood of death."
