Traffic Safety
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...
Before workers began adjusting support cables at the north end of the Florida International University (FIU) bridge that collapsed and killed six people last week, they performed the same work at the opposite end of the bridge, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a statement...
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asked the inspector general of her department to probe whether a federally funded pedestrian bridge that collapsed and killed six in Florida complied with all rules, her office said on Tuesday.
Chao said in a letter she has asked for an audit to determine...
A pedestrian was killed overnight in Tempe, Ariz., after being hit by a self-driving car operated by Uber.
This incident appears to be the first known death of a pedestrian struck by an autonomous vehicle on public roads.
The Uber vehicle was in autonomous mode with a human safety driver at the...
Bridge collapse
Five days after the deadly bridge collapse at Florida International University (FIU) there are still a lot of unknowns, but this is what we know:
The number of confirmed dead is six, and 10 people were injured;
There have been conflicting reports as to what was being done on the bridge prior to...
NTSB officials have still not been able to access the FIU bridge accident site. AP Photo
As rescue workers continued recovery efforts at the site of the pedestrian bridge collapse at Florida International University in the city of Sweetwater on Friday, officials were waiting to get a chance to do their job.
At least six have been confirmed dead and more may be pulled from the rubble...
A report released by nonprofit transportation research group TRIP finds fatalities in traffic crashes involving drivers 65 years old or older increased 22% from 2012 to 2016.
The number of seniors killed in those crashes increased by 16% nationwide. The TRIP report identified Florida as having...
