Traffic Safety
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...
Statistics developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that driver behavior is responsible for 94% of all crashes. The agency and its state counterparts support a variety of programs targeted at changing and improving driver behavior. Areas of focus include...
In the last 20 years in Vancouver, the number of transportation-related fatalities decreased by 40%, despite significant increases in population over this same period (20%). Additionally, between 2011 and 2015, the city of Vancouver had an overall transportation fatality rate of 2.4 fatalities per...
Crews using equipment lighting and balloon lights on an Oregon highway construction project.
It should go without saying that every state department of transportation prioritizes safety for its crews as well as for the traveling public when it comes to setting up work zones along any roadway, including making sure that motorists can clearly see where the work zone, crews and equipment are...
From 2005 and 2011, the number of U.S. traffic fatalities declined by over 25%, from 43,510 to 32,479.
Most of the drop occurred in 2008 and 2009, which coincided with what has been dubbed the Great Recession, running from December 2007 to June 2009.
Historically, recessions have been...
The state of Arizona is investing in a potential high-tech solution to instantly alert police and motorists to the presence of a wrong-way driver on a roadway.
The state is the first in the nation to test thermal cameras to combat the rate of wrong-way collisions. The number of Americans killed...
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the agency's ongoing investigation of the pedestrian bridge collapse that took place at Florida International Univerisity (FIU) on March 15 in the city of Sweetwater.
According to the report, the 174-ft-long bridge fell...
Integrated Roadways, a Kansas City technology start-up, is developing “smart pavement” technology that would not only help increase roadway safety but also serve as the Wi-Fi platform for cars and other future mobility services.
The road system uses high-resolution fiber optic sensors and other...
Salt Lake City is seeking the community's feedback on two "pop-up" intersection designs ahead of road construction work planned for next year.
From May 16-23, the city is testing out a temporary intersection design at 900 South and 1100 East, which will be part of a reconstruction project in 2019...
A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that pedestrian deaths have jumped 46% since reaching their lowest point in 2009, as pedestrian crashes have become both deadlier and more frequent.
According to the IIHS study, a total of 5,987 pedestrians were killed in...
The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) last week launched a multimedia messaging campaign to highlight the dangers to road crews in work zones.
NAPA unveiled the "WatchForUs" campaign, which targets distracted driving, for National Work Zone Awareness Week observed April 9‒13. The goal...
With nearly 1 in 5 crashes in the state involving distracted driving, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is launching a campaign to remind drivers that their undivided attention to the road could save a life.
In 2017, 19% of vehicle crashes on Texas roads involved distracted driving....
Distracted driving tops drivers’ list of growing dangers on the road, according to a new survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
The annual Traffic Safety Culture Index from the AAA Foundation is designed to identify attitudes and behaviors related to traffic safety. The index shows...
The Oregon Department of Transportation announced plans this week for a series of construction projects along I-84 between Pendleton and La Grande to make the stretch of freeway safer for motorists.
The work is based on the I-84 Corridor Management Plan, a study that looked at road safety between...
