Traffic Safety
There are approximately 212,000 at-grade railroad crossings in the U.S., usually consisting of one or more railroad tracks crossing a public highway. In some cases, and increasingly commonly, there is an additional presence of a multi-use path or trail, which adds a new level of complexity to...
In 2017, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) opened its first Flex Route along U.S. 23 in Washtenaw and Livingston counties. For years, the problems of peak-hour directional traffic, incident management, and corridor operations and safety eluded the department. All short-term solutions...
Intersections offer a challenge to traffic safety professionals across the country because a third of all fatal crashes occur at intersections. This is primarily caused by right-angle crashes that result from a driver failing to recognize the hazard of oncoming traffic or misjudging the distance or...
According to a new survey by the National Safety Council (NSC), 97% of trucking, rail, air and other transportation-related company employers are worried about employee fatigue.
The NSC report, Fatigue in Safety-Critical Industries: Impact, Risks and Recommendations, summarizes the results of two...
Photo © JThomas (cc-by-sa/2.0)
One aspect of rural driving that perhaps of oft-ignored, or at best misunderstood, is the degree to which regular traffic must accommodate not just heavy truck and freight traffic, but farm vehicles as well. This fact is not lost, however, on the Maryland DOT, which has joined the Maryland...
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently announced that according to department data, crashes, injuries and fatalities decreased at 11 roundabouts in the state after they were installed.
PennDOT recently reviewed data for 11 roundabouts on state routes at intersections...
States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia in preparation for Hurricane Florence's arrival, a Category 4 hurricane expected to hit the Atlantic Coast later this week, including evacuation plans and transit cancellations for some.
An evacuation of South...
Gov. Scott Walker announced yesterday that 29 agencies across the state of Wisconsin will receive $15.7 million in funding for Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) projects.
TAP projects are federally funded, smaller scale transportation projects which have a utilitarian purpose which expand...
As part of the Toward Zero Deaths plan for the northern part of the state, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will begin placing hundreds of roadside reflectors this week along 76 miles of the iconic M-22 route.
The $300,000 project includes more than 1,300 reflectors—called road...
This week, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will test out a new technology placed inside the pavement along Brighton Boulevard in Denver to measure the speed of cars traveling over that stretch of road.
This is an example of the agency’s RoadX program, a combination of new methods...
More public transit usage can significantly lessen cities' traffic death rates, according to a recent American Public Transportation Association (APTA) analysis.
Conducted by APTA and advocacy group Vision Zero Network, the analysis showed that metro areas that log more than 40 annual transit...
The U.S is on pace to record close to 40,000 roadway and highway deaths for the third consecutive year, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the National Safety Council (NSC).
Based on state-reported statistics, the NSC says approximately 18,720 people died on U.S. roadways...
Image: Gregory Highway Products
Drivers in the state of Oklahoma could soon be seeing fewer guardrails on the side of the highway, as the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) said it is planning to install more cable barriers.
The department said it plans on installing 10 miles of cable barriers, some of which is...
Countermeasures are used to help makes roads safer by reducing crashes. However, while we often know that they reduce crashes we usually do not know the exact effect they have on driver behavior and how this reduces crashes. However a new data set from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program...
Phoenix-area drivers are used to seeing freeway entrance-ramp meters with alternating green and red traffic lights during weekday rush hours. But some of the red lights in I-17 ramp meters also play a role as part of the pilot wrong-way vehicle detection system being tested by the Arizona...
Image: Arizona DOT via Arizona Public Media
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is installing dust-detection software along a vulnerable stretch of I-10 to prevent dust-related crashes.
New technology will detect if high amounts of dust particles are in the air that could hamper visibility. It will automatically activate...
Image: Village of Long Grove
A box truck crashed into the historic covered bridge in Long Grove, Ill., Wednesday afternoon, just two weeks after the bridge was made a historic landmark.
At 3:54 p.m., the truck struck the top of the covered bridge, according to local reports. The truck was driven by a 30-year-old Chicago man...
On April 7, a significant landslide resulted in the closure of Pennsylvania S.R. 30 in Allegheny County. The route is a principal artery to Pittsburgh and supports more than 22,000 vehicles per day. The slide demolished one apartment building, severely damaged another, and impacted a single-family...
Idaho officials have decided to replace rather than repair the Cloverdale Road overpass on I-84 near Boise that was damaged during a fiery, seven-vehicle crash that killed four people.
Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) board members on Friday approved spending up to $8 million to replace the...
Image: Google Street View via The Hour
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) is moving ahead with a $10 million project to raise an I-95 bridge that has been hit several times by trucks due to low clearance.
According to CDOT, the bridge has been struck many times, and it is structurally deficient and functionally...
