Safety guidance

REVISED
May 20, 1996
SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS:
GOOD PRACTICES FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
I.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to provide general guidance to
managers and safety specialists on the formulation of a SMS. It
is directed to the State level, but can be adapted to political
subdivisions and others. This guidance is flexible because each
State has its own unique institutional and organizational
arrangements which must be considered. Further, the development
and implementation of a SMS is an evolving process. Good
practices will also evolve over time.
II.

DEFINITION

The SMS is a systematic process that has the goal of reducing the
number and severity of traffic crashes by ensuring that all
opportunities to improve highway safety are identified,
considered, implemented as appropriate, and evaluated in all
phases of highway planning, design, construction, maintenance,
and operation, and in the development of safety programs relating
to vehicles and people and by providing information for selecting
and implementing effective highway safety strategies and
projects. The SMS would be designed to assist decisionmakers in
selecting cost-effective strategies/actions to improve the safety
and efficiency of the nation's transportation system.

1

III.

BACKGROUND

Highway safety managers have continually looked for better ways
to make decisions on their highway safety programs.
These efforts were brought to the forefront by several activities
1
and publications of the Transportation Research Board (TRB)
and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) 2. These activities were directed at
increased emphasis on recognizing the impacts of decisions which
affect safety in the planning, design, construction, maintenance,
and operations of the highway transportation system. The need
for better management of safety activities by the organizations
involved in highway safety were identified and recommendations
advanced.
Congress also recognized this need to establish better management
procedures to address the unacceptable level of lives lost on the
Nation's highways and to maximize the use of the limited
resources. The first major legislation to focus on this issue
was the enactment of the Highway Safety Act of 1966. This Act
established comprehensive highway safety requirements for the
States. This comprehensive approach to highway safety included
provisions for the States to address the safety issues associated
with the vehicle, roadway and human elements. Specific
responsibility for administration of the program was directed to
the Governor of each State. Congress has since enacted a number
of transportation bills which provided further responsibilities
to the States and Federal agencies, along with appropriation of
funds directed toward highway safety. Thus, the 1966 Act
basically served as a catalyst and foundation for implementing
the Safety Management System requirements of the Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991.
The ISTEA of 1991 was signed into law on December 18, 1991.
Section 1034 of this Act required States to have a SMS by
October 1, 1994. The issues associated with implementing a SMS,
therefore, were addressed through the regulatory process of
public meetings, an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Because a number of issues
related to the data requirements for the various management
systems needed to be resolved, an Interim Final Rule was
published in the Federal Register on December 1, 1993.
Prior to the publication of the Final Rule, the National Highway
1

Enhancing highway Safety Through Engineering Management in
an Age of Limited Resources.
2

A Guide For Enhancement of Highway Safety Directed to
Agencies, Programs, and Standards
2

System (NHS) Designation Act of 1995 was signed into law on
November 28, 1995. Under Section 205 (Relief from Mandates) of
this Act, a State may elect, at any time, not to implement, in
whole or in part, one or more of the management systems required
under the ISTEA of 1991.
Subsequent to the signing of NHS Designation Act, Transportation
Secretary Federico Peña, in response to a directive from
President Clinton, issued an action plan to ensure that highway
safety would continue to receive importance; and one of the
action items was the promotion and support of safety management
systems.
There are a number of reasons why the development and
implementation of a SMS is important. These include the
following:
Too many needless tragedies on the Nation's highways
While the nation is experiencing the fewest number of people
killed on the highways in over 30 years, there are still too
many preventable tragedies.
Health care has become a national issue.
Highway safety is an important part of this issue since
motor vehicle crashes contribute $14 billion annually to
health care costs. A comprehensive process that brings
together engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency
response disciplines and the medical establishment is needed
to help address this issue.
Resources are declining and demands are escalating.
Agencies must therefore ensure that maximum effectiveness is
achieved in the utilization of these resources. Past
practices have resulted in too many lost opportunities and
too many wasted resources because of uncoordinated efforts.
In this regard, the need for improved coordination of highway
safety programs becomes more imperative. Thus, one of the most
important aspects of a SMS is to bring people with different
safety responsibilities together to determine what each may have
to offer to improve overall highway safety.

IV.

DEVELOPMENT

A successful SMS would ensure communication, coordination, and
cooperation from the various governmental and other organizations
3

within the State which have highway safety roles,
responsibilities, or interests for the roadway, human, and
vehicle safety elements of highway safety. Highway safety
functions reside in a number of different State and local
agencies. Within individual agencies, specific responsibilities
that impact safety may be assigned to various subunits,
divisions, bureaus, or to individual employees. In addition,
there may also be prominent private safety organizations which
have a significant impact on highway safety.
Responsibility:
An important initial step is the designation of a lead State
agency and "focal point." This focal point is charged with
coordination of the development, establishment, and
implementation of the SMS.
One of the responsibilities of the SMS "focal point"
typically would be bringing the various individual
agencies/organizations together, getting organized, and
coordinating the activities of the group. In many States,
suitable coordinating groups (formal or informal) already
exist, and it may be desirable to utilize such existing
groups for this purpose, or as a starting point to establish
a SMS coalition. However, the SMS
development/implementation mission needs to be formalized.
With this in mind, the next critical step is the
identification of the key agencies and organizations to be
brought together to form the SMS coalition. The coalition,
or working group, will include players which have major
highway safety roles and responsibilities. This group would
ensure that safety is appropriately considered in all phases
of highway planning, design, construction, maintenance, and
operations, and in the development of safety programs
relating to vehicles and people, and that all are working in
a coordinated effort toward a common mission to improve
highway safety.
Examples of organizations and agencies that have highway
safety roles within the State which may be represented on
the SMS working group include the State Highway Agency, the
Governor's Highway Safety Representative, the Department of
Motor Vehicles, the Public Health Department, Metropolitan
Planning Organizations, and various private organizations.
A more comprehensive list of these organizations, and their
typical safety roles, is shown in Appendix A.
Organizational structure and assigned safety roles vary from
State to State. Thus the make-up of the SMS working group
will vary. However, the SMS group should include
4

representatives of the key organizations/agencies in the
State that have responsibility for highway safety.
Major Areas and Components of a Safety Management System:
There is no one correct way to develop and implement a SMS.
Every State is unique. There are many elements of a SMS
already in place and working in most States. States should
take advantage of, and build on, those highway safety
organizations and processes that already exist and work
well.
In structuring a SMS, the following major areas should be
considered:
1. Coordinating and integrating broad based safety
programs such as motor carrier, corridor, and community
based management approach for highway safety.
2. Developing processes and procedures to ensure that the
major safety problems are identified and addressed.
This would include identifying and investigating
hazardous or potentially hazardous highway safety
problems, roadway locations and features, including
railroad-highway grade crossings, and establishing
countermeasures and setting priorities to correct the
identified hazards or potential hazards.
3. Ensuring early consideration of safety in all highway
transportation programs and projects.
4. Identifying safety needs of special user groups such as
older drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists,
commercial motor carriers, and hazardous material
carriers, in the planning, design, construction, and
operation of the highway systems.
5. Routinely maintaining and upgrading safety hardware
(including highway-rail crossing warning devices),
highway elements, and operational features.
Within each of these five major areas, the following
elements should be incorporated, as appropriate:
1. Establishment of short- and long-term highway safety
goals to address both existing and anticipated safety
problems as well as substandard highway locations,
designs, and features, and to allocate resources;
2. Establishment of accountability by identifying and
defining the safety responsibilities of units and
positions;
5

3. Recognition of institutional and organizational
initiatives through identification of disciplines
involved in highway safety at the State and local
level, assessment of multi-agency responsibilities and
accountability, and establishment of coordination,
cooperation, and communication mechanisms;
4. Collection, maintenance, and dissemination of data
necessary for identifying problems and determining
improvement needs. Data bases and data sharing should
be integrated as necessary to achieve maximum
utilization of existing and new data within and among
the agencies responsible for the roadway, human, and
vehicle safety elements. These records, as a minimum,
should consist of information pertaining to: crashes,
traffic (including number of trains at highway-rail
crossings), pedestrians, enforcement activities,
vehicles, bicyclists, drivers, highway, and medical
services;
5. Analysis of available data, multi-disciplinary and
operational investigations, and comparisons of existing
conditions and current standards to assess highway
safety needs, select countermeasures, and set
priorities;
6. Evaluation of the effectiveness of activities that
relate to highway safety performance to guide future
decisions;
7. Development and implementation of public information
and education activities to educate and inform the
public on safety needs, programs, and countermeasures
that affect safety on the nation's highways; and
8. Identification of skills, resources, and current and
future training needs to implement the State's
activities and programs affecting highway safety,
development of a program to carry out necessary
training, and development of methods for monitoring and
disseminating new technology and incorporating
effective results.
Although all eight elements are important, all of them may
not be applicable to each major area. For example, after
review, one State may determine that the seventh element
"...public information and education activities..." may not
be pertinent to its program supporting major area five:
"routinely maintaining and upgrading safety hardware...".
However, another State may determine through its review that
6

it is important to educate the public on why a traffic
signal or stop sign has been modified or removed.
A further discussion of the five major areas with
suggestions on utilizing the key elements, as well as State
specific examples, is included in Appendix B.
"Taking Stock"
Before decisions can be made as to what is needed to develop
and implement an effective SMS, it is essential that
existing highway safety related procedures and activities be
critically appraised. The SMS working group needs to take
stock or assess what currently exists and determine what is
functioning well, where there are weaknesses or missing
elements, and what needs to be modified or added in order to
have an effective and efficient SMS.
A suggested starting point for this "taking stock" activity
is to consider the five major areas and eight key elements.
The working group should assess how each of these
activities or functions is currently accomplished, such as:
•

What are the existing laws, regulations, and written
policies and procedures as they relate to the major
areas and key elements? What are the existing highway
safety goals?

•

Which organizational units or positions are assigned
responsibility for the various safety functions? Is
accountability adequate? Is there sufficient skilled
staff? Is training needed?

•

How do the responsible agencies currently interrelate?
What are the existing coordination mechanisms, both
formal and informal? Is there coordination of safety
activities with the Metropolitan Planning Organizations
(MPO's)? With local highway and safety agencies?

•

Are there any institutional barriers, between agencies
or within individual agencies, which hinder cooperative
or coordinated safety activities?

•

What are the existing processes or procedures for
identifying safety issues or problems and what programs
or procedures are in place to address the identified
issues and problems?

•

What safety processes or activities are working well?
What are the obvious gaps, weaknesses, missing
7

functions, or overlapping responsibilities as related
to the major areas and key elements?
•

What Federal, State, local and private resources are
available to develop and implement the SMS?

•

What information is needed to identify, target, and
evaluate countermeasures?

•

What safety related data exists and where is it housed?
Are safety related data computerized statewide? Are
these data routinely linked to medical and financial
outcome data? What is the quality of the data? Are
the files complete and up-to-date? Are the data
readily accessible to users? What needed data are not
available?

•

What standards/health status indicators exist to
determine unmet needs for highway safety?

This assessment would identify areas where improvements can
be made, functions added or reassigned, and processes
instituted or modified to develop an effective, integrated
SMS.
Work Plan
In order to determine what needs to be accomplished and to
proceed in developing and implementing a fully operational
SMS, States should develop a work plan. The plan will vary
from State to State because of different organizational
structures as well as differing safety needs. The work
plans may differ among States as to the level of detail
required to provide a document that is useful to the
individual State. However, the work plan should be flexible
to allow for changes based on unforeseen circumstances and
feedback from implementation of the plan itself. Also, the
work plan should not focus on individual countermeasures for
specific safety problems, but rather be directed at
organizational and program activities to address safety
issues on a systematic basis.
Appendix C contains a list of suggested items for inclusion
in the work plan.
V.

IMPLEMENTATION
Once a work plan is developed and endorsed by the working
group and/or agencies, the challenge becomes one of carrying
out the identified tasks/activities to achieve the desired
8

results. This requires a process for activity management,
coordination, and oversight, including periodic task
monitoring of progress, reporting of such progress, and
regularly scheduled meetings of the work group and/or its
subgroups to generally manage program implementation.
Examples of implementation activities in each of the major
areas are shown in Appendix B.
VI.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The agencies should have an internal quality control system
and review procedure. The agencies should establish,
maintain, and utilize a system that assures continuous
improvement and compliance with the goals of the Safety
Management System. The system should include the methods,
procedures, controls, records and maintenance of the system
to provide continual progress toward the goals.
A.

Philosophy
Continuous improvement in reducing the number,
severity, medical, and financial consequences of
crashes is the primary goal of the SMS. The selfassessment process should not only measure the level of
effort but what is actually being accomplished as a
result of that effort. It is important not only to
assess in relationship to the stated goals but to
identify processes that can be improved. Often these
improvements can be implemented at limited or no cost.
The procedures used in the self-assessment process
should be appropriate in scope to the characteristics
of the processes or services being assessed.

B.

Components
1.

Reviews SMS programs and operations to assure
consistency with the SMS's policies, goals, and
objectives.

2.

Initiates, coordinates, reviews, and evaluates
efforts that deal with programs both internal and
those which cut across organizational lines; for
example, evaluates the effectiveness of crosscutting programs such as community/corridor
traffic safety programs.

3.

Develops and submits to top management officials
findings and recommendations resulting from the
9

aforementioned reviews.
4.

Maintains a follow-up system to assure appropriate
and timely implementation of approved
recommendations.

10

APPENDIX A
EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES WITH HIGHWAY SAFETY ROLES
ORGANIZATION/AGENCY

TYPICAL SAFETY ROLE

State Highway Agency

State Highways-Planning,
Design, Construction,
Maintenance, & Operations;
Federal 10% STP Set-aside
Safety Improvements
Railroad/Highway Grade
Crossing Program

Governor's Highway Safety
Representative

Highway Safety Programs,
including Federal 402, 403,
408, 410, and 153 Programs,
Legislative
Initiatives, Safety Belt,
Helmet, Alcohol, Drugs

State Police, Police Chief's

Enforcement, Motor and
Sheriff's AssociationsCarrier
Safety Programs,

Crash Data Collection
Office of Emergency Medical

Emergency Medical Services
Services, Education, Data
Collection

Dept. of Motor Vehicles

Driver Licensing, Vehicle
Registration, Regulations, &
Safety Inspection

Public Health

Child Safety Seats, Alcohol
Safety Education, Injury
Control, Epidemiology,
Statistics/Evaluation

Metropolitan Planning
Organizations (MPOs)

Transportation Planning,
and Highway Safety Improvement
Projects and Programs

ORGANIZATION/AGENCY

TYPICAL SAFETY ROLE

Department of Criminal
Justice

Prosecution of Highway
Safety violations,Training

Public Utility/Regulatory
Commission

Regulation of Utilities,
Buses, Trucks, Railroads
11

County/Municipal Roads
Departments

Local Highway Management

State Education Department

Safety Education, Driver
Training, Alcohol/Drug
Education

State/Local Agencies
Responsible for Data Files

Managers (or keepers) of
key data files not included
above

Safety Advocacy Groups

Public Information/MADD;AAA;
Trucking Education; Lobbying

Associations)

for Safety Legislation.

12

APPENDIX B
STATE EXAMPLES OF THE FIVE MAJOR AREAS
Discussion of the five major areas follows. Suggestions on
utilizing the key elements, as well as State specific examples
are included.
1.

Coordinating and integrating broad base safety programs
such as motor carrier, corridor, and community based
traffic safety activities into a comprehensive
management approach for highway safety.
A coordinated comprehensive approach involves the
highway safety players under the leadership of a "focal
point" and the use of highway safety management
processes. The processes include:
Planning - (Program Assessment, Problem
Identification, Establishment of Goals and
Objectives, etc.)
Programming - (Program Development, Allocation of
Resources)
Implementation - (Project Initiation, Review of
Data Collection Provisions)
Monitoring and Review - (Project and Program
Monitoring)
Evaluation - (Review of Evaluation Planning,
Collection of Data, Feedback to other phases of
Management Process)
Example
One State DOT, through leadership of the Office of
Transportation Safety is building a management process
within SMS which establishes decision points within
project management tasks and sub-tasks. This assumes
that managers have both the opportunity and
responsibility to consider safety implications of
activities. Not only is there a decision point, but
also a mechanism to furnish pertinent, broad ranging
alternatives from which to choose.
Example
A “Safe Community” (SC) program was implemented to
reduce traffic injuries within the community. The
13

program was initiated through the participation of
multiple hospitals and medical centers within the
community. With the involvement of the hospitals, the
SC program had access to multiple databases including
the hospital based trauma registry, a pediatric trauma
registry, an emergency department surveillance system
as well as crash records. Analysis of data revealed
that the community had the highest rate of crashes and
injuries per 1,000 population in the state. While the
leadership of the SC resided in the medical centers,
executive support for the program was broad-based
including: law enforcement, nursing associations, safe
driving advocates etc. The SC program was primarily
structured around educational training and
informational programs focused on five major areas.
The areas included: youth programs, substance abuse,
enforcement agency support, occupant protection and a
community resource center that provided traffic safety
information to the community. An evaluation of SC
program activities revealed a greater rate of decline
in fatalities and injuries within the community than in
the rest of the state. The use of child restraints was
up almost 15% over non-targeted communities..
Example
A County implemented a community based traffic safety
program that involved government agencies, political
leaders, private business, and advocacy groups that had
roles, responsibilities and interests in highway
safety. Representatives of these groups included
health department representatives, law enforcement,
county and city traffic engineers, city planners, a
school district superintendent, the emergency medical
service director, the mayor, alcohol beverage control
agents, advertising agency representatives, media
representatives, physicians, nurses, representatives of
SAFE KIDS, MADD, SADD, and more. This broad based
group analyzed the traffic crash data for their county
and identified the major highway safety problems, the
victims, the target groups, the causation factors and
strategies to improve the identified problems. The
problems found to be most significant were: 1) lack of
occupant restraint use, 2) single vehicle run off the
road crashes on rural roads with no edge markings, 3)
deep drop offs, and 4) no improved shoulders. Alcohol
was also a factor in many of the night time crashes.
The diversity and scope of the group was well suited
for planning and implementing the strategies needed to
improve the crash problems that existed in the County,
14

and the group was sufficiently authoritative to commit
and reprogram county resources.
2.

Developing processes and procedures to ensure that the
major safety problems are identified and addressed.
This would include identifying and investigating
hazardous or potentially hazardous highway safety
problems, roadway locations and features, including
railroad-highway grade crossings, and establishing
countermeasures and setting priorities to correct the
identified hazards or potential hazards.
Useful information for developing the roadway component
of this area is contained in 23 CFR 924. It sets forth
a means of developing a comprehensive highway safety
improvement program to identify and correct hazardous
or potentially hazardous locations and elements on
existing highways. Three components are identified:
a.
Planning - identify, investigate, analyze and set
priorities. Intra- and inter-agency coordination
should be conducted to include consideration of
roadway, vehicle and driver countermeasures.
b.
Implementation - schedule, implement, and monitor
projects.
c.
Evaluation - conduct crash analyses to determine
project/program effectiveness to improve future safety
decisions.
In addition, the DOT Action Plan for Rail-Highway
Crossing Safety includes a number of proposals for
improving safety at rail-highway crossings. These
include upgrading or eliminating at-grade crossings on
the National Highway System (NHS), giving priority to
the long-term goal of eliminating (through closure or
grade separation) NHS intersections with Principal Rail
Lines, and ensuring that the DOT/AAR Inventory is
updated on a systematic basis.
Example
The Traffic Improvement Association (TIA) of a local
government, a non-profit organization, has guided the
County's traffic safety initiatives for over 25 years.
The TIA uses five operating principles:
(1)

The identification of traffic problems and needs
by local authorities as a continuing process.
15

(2)

The selection of traffic crash countermeasures for
prioritized needs.

(3)

The application of a "systems management" approach
in program planning.

(4)

Direct participation of traffic authorities in all
program phases.

(5)

Thorough program evaluation.

On a day-to-day basis, TIA's Traffic Management System
provides training, coordination, public support,
advocacy, public information and education,
clearinghouse functions and serves as a vehicle for
countywide master planning in traffic.
3.

Ensuring early consideration of safety in all highway
transportation programs and projects.
This area ensures the early consideration of safety
needs, goals, and priorities throughout the development
and construction of all projects and activities. The
identification and assignment of safety
responsibilities to specific units is important,
particularly when projects are developed by various
units in the central office, field offices, and/or
consultants.
a.
Pre-Design. Responsibilities include identifying
safety needs, analyzing potential enhancements and
allocating resources.
(1)

Project/Program specific

(a)

Identify Safety Needs
−= Analyze crash history
−= Compare current standards with existing
conditions
−= Analyze ROW needs, design exceptions and
environmental constraints
−= Identify and consider needs of all user
groups

(b)

Select safety Improvements
-Identify alternative countermeasures
-Estimate and compare costs and benefits

(c)

Prepare preliminary plans for traffic control in
construction areas and selective program
16

countermeasure activities.
-Traffic management
-Incident management
-Public information
-Enforcement
(d) Allocate resources to assure estimate sufficiently
includes needed safety work.
(2) Develop necessary statewide and/or area wide plans
to address special user needs, such as National Truck
Network, hazardous materials routing, and
bicycle/pedestrian facility plans.
Example
A State Department of Transportation (DOT) has a staff
member who coordinates projects and activities
associated with bicycle/pedestrian related
transportation. Through participation on the DOT
design standards committee, the coordinator raises
awareness department-wide of bike safety issues. The
coordinator has also established effective outreach to
relevant interest groups, including bike clubs, law
enforcement, and the corporate sector, which provide
input and material support for the efforts. Finally,
the coordinator works with local communities and
universities to establish working committees to address
the issues at the local level. Efforts have resulted
in designs for wider shoulders (both urban and rural),
and movement of bike traffic off of roadways onto
independent bike paths.
b.
Design. Design provides consistent and effective
application of safety enhancements. Activities
initiated in the pre-design phase can be expanded to
include subsequently identified safety needs.
(1) Standards and Policies - The following is to
provide the designer with essential design information:
(a) Geometric design criteria for each functional
classification of highway.
(b) Roadside design criteria including clear zone and
barrier policies.
(c) Traffic control devices and warrants; This should
include policies to address durable, high quality
pavement markings and signs and control of traffic
through work areas.

17

(d) Guidelines for addressing commercial motor
vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
(e) Ongoing feedback processes incorporating changes
in program policies and procedures, design manuals,
standard drawings, specifications and corresponding
agency documents to assure obsolete details are
upgraded or removed on a timely basis.
(2) Identification of Safety and Traffic Needs - The
following procedures will assist the designer to
identify safety and traffic needs and use this
information in the design of individual projects.
(a) Investigate and analyze project crash histories
and other data sources.
(b) Identify potentially hazardous roadway, roadside,
and operational features located on and adjacent to the
proposed project, or program potentially using an onsite field review with multi-disciplinary personnel.
(c) Identify roadway, roadside, and operational
features not to current standards within the proposed
project and discuss methods to be used in evaluating
substandard features.
(d) Identify, compare and select alternative safety
enhancements.
(e) Maintain records of design exceptions including
all evaluations and decisions.
(f) Review all program strategies and activities,
project plans, specifications and estimates for
compliance with current policies, standards and
specifications just before advertisement.
c.
Construction/Implementation. During the
construction/implementation phase, adequate and proper
measures should be taken to provide for the protection
of the workers and the highway users. This includes
the proper location and installation of safety and
operational features. The construction stage provides
the opportunity to visually assess safety design and to
assure that safety improvements are incorporated.
Public awareness campaigns and enforcement programs can
be effectively utilized in conjunction with
construction or program activities. The following
procedures are suggested in providing construction and
implementation personnel with the necessary decision18

making information.
(1) Initiate early and continual coordination of work
zone traffic safety with other agencies, such as fire
protection, emergency medical services, railroad
companies, and traffic law enforcement, throughout the
life of the project. Also discuss the handling of
possible safety enhancements identified during
construction/implementation.
(2) Provide for work zone traffic safety as required
in applicable Federal and State regulations. A highway
work zone safety program as recommended by the Federal
Register Notice implementing Section 1051 of the ISTEA
will provide a good framework for improving work zone
safety. Immediate evaluation and resolution of crashes
and operational problems are essential. In addition,
routine day and night inspections should be conducted
and modifications should be made when needed.
(3) Field review to ensure safety hardware is
appropriate for existing field conditions.
(4) Close coordination should be maintained with
design and traffic personnel when making additions or
changes in location or application of safety hardware
or features.
(5) Communication should be maintained between field
and office personnel to facilitate input, feedback, and
information transfer for modifications to standards and
future projects/programs.
(6) Newly constructed or installed safety hardware and
features should be checked to ensure proper
installation, type, size, and location.
Example
A Council of Governments incorporates a comprehensive
regional safety analysis into its planning activities.
Its safety goals were adopted by them in 1990 and
clearly spell out directions for safety planning in the
area of traffic safety engineering, enforcement, motor
vehicle law amendments, emergency medical services,
occupant protection, specialized safety problems (e.g.,
pedestrians, elderly, bicyclists, and work zones),
traffic crash data collection, and coordination and
communication among agencies involved in safety
planning.

19

4.

Identifying safety needs of special user groups such as
older drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists,
commercial motor carriers, and hazardous material
carriers, in the planning, design, construction, and
operation of the highway systems.
A means to identify and correct specific hazards on
existing highways is a continuing need. There should
be a process established to address safety needs
associated with older drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists,
motorcyclists, and commercial motor vehicle operators.
Example
A State has developed a process to analyze crash data
for problem areas involving special user groups. They
looked for, and found, problem corridors involving
older drivers. This effort was then linked to their
development of the first major area (Coordinating and
integrating broad base safety programs...) so that a
diverse approach could be taken to develop appropriate
countermeasures.
Example
Another State has developed a Pedestrian Education and
Driver Safety (PEDS) project that will increase
motorist and pedestrian awareness of the State
Pedestrian Safety Law. This program will provide for
public information and education, the placement of
bright orange traffic cones with signs at crosswalks,
and include enforcement of the law. Busy downtown
crosswalks and all school crosswalks were repainted to
provide visible reminders of the law.
Example
Another State considers pedestrian and bicycle safety
to be of major concern. Pedestrian involved crashes for
the 1987 to 1990 time period were geocoded using the
TRANSCAD GIS software. The crash geocodes were
integrated into a database to produce a GIS-based
pedestrian crash location database. The GIS database
will be extended to include bicycle crashes for the
1987-1990 time period. This information allows the
Highway Safety Office to identify pedestrian and
bicycle crash rates based on exposure to traffic and
then develop programs to address the problems.
Example
A conscious effort to look into crash problems
associated with commercial motor carriers is being made
in another State. They have put together a diverse
group of specialists to consider all possible
20

countermeasures for the problems identified.
5.

Routinely maintaining and upgrading safety hardware
(including highway-rail crossing warning devices),
highway elements, and operational features.
Maintenance and operational activities provide an
opportunity to enhance safety. This can be
accomplished by maintaining and upgrading hardware,
highway elements, and operational features.
Operational features include traffic control devices.
Public awareness campaigns can be effectively used in
conjunction with these types of activities. As an
example, one State uses its changeable message signs to
caution motorists about speeding, wearing safety belts,
and special enforcement efforts.
a.
Maintenance. To make the necessary decisions,
maintenance personnel should have certain information.
The following procedures are suggested for providing
that information:
•
•

•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•

Identify and report hazardous shoulder drop offs.
Identify and report vegetation in highway rightsof-way such as large trees and shrubs that limit a
driver's view or present isolated obstacles at
roadway intersections and at railroad-highway
grade crossings.
Identify and report degraded signs and pavement
markings.
Identify and report damaged or missing safety
hardware, highway elements, and operational
devices and features.
Identify, locate and report obsolete, substandard
or nonfunctional hardware, highway elements, and
operational features.
Establish priorities and response times for
inspecting, repairing, upgrading or replacing
damaged hardware, highway elements and operational
features.
Develop temporary or emergency actions to mitigate
the effects of damaged hardware, highway elements,
and operational features.
Provide and implement work zone traffic control
plans for all maintenance activities.
Provide timely response for low cost safety
improvements.
Conduct routine inspection and maintenance of
hardware, highway elements, and operational
features to assure proper performance.

21

b.
Operational. Operational activities provide an
opportunity to enhance safety by detecting and
correcting unsafe traffic operations. These unsafe
operations may be caused by deficiencies in geometric
design features, traffic control devices, or other
related factors. The following operational procedures
are suggested:
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

Issue permits for utility work and changes in
access control with appropriate consideration of
safety aspects. Policies and procedures for
utility accommodations and access controls may
assist in addressing the safety aspects.
Identify and mitigate operational hazards,
including environmental elements such as fog, etc.
Provide traffic engineering expertise to develop
traffic control plans and programs.
Monitor and adjust traffic control devices.
Monitor and improve commercial vehicle operations
(permits, weigh-in-motion, etc.).
Provide traffic engineering expertise to assist in
planning to route and control traffic for special
events.
Develop and implement incident management systems.

22

23

APPENDIX C
SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR THE WORK PLAN
1.

Discuss objectives and overall approach for development
and implementation of the system.

2.

Identify the designated SMS focal point and the various
State organizations/agencies responsible for the major
safety elements. Identify the roles and
responsibilities of ALL involved agencies.
a.

Describe the formalized interactive processes for
communication, coordination, and cooperation among
the various safety organizations. For example, a
SMS working group, committee structure, or other
process planned for the necessary interaction and
SMS development, and an indication as to how it
will function.

b.

Identify procedures for cooperation with MPOs,
transit operators, cities, counties, and other
affected agencies; and identify any
agreements/contracts that need to be negotiated
with these outside agencies to complete each major
task.

c.

Identify procedures that will be used for
cooperation with Federal lands highway agencies
and responsibilities for coverage of Federal lands
highways and other federally owned facilities.

d.

Identify the organizational characteristics that
will be established to insure the collaboration of
highway safety with the health communities.

3.

Identify and discuss the information needs of the SMS
including data collection, analysis and dissemination
(existing vs. proposed). Identify what data systems
will provide for these needs and the organizations that
will be responsible for routinely providing and
updating the data. Explain how and by whom this
information will be used to identify specific safety
problems to be addressed in the State's work plan.
Also, discuss oversight procedures to ensure the use of
data bases with a common or coordinated reference
system and methods for data sharing.

4.

Identify processes for setting or reaffirming planned
24

short- and long-term goals to be accomplished by the
SMS (ex. plans for upgrading and eliminating at-grade
railroad crossings on the NHS and plans for the longterm goal of eliminating NHS intersections with
Principal Rail Lines through closure or grade
separation).
5.

Identify processes for setting or reaffirming planned
performance measures that will be used to evaluate the
efforts of the SMS (ex. fatality/incident statistics,
EMS response time to crashes, % of people using safety
belts, etc.).

6.

Discuss existing programs, processes, and activities
and how they relate to the 8 key elements and the 5
major areas.

7.

Identify weaknesses, missing elements, and needed
organizational, procedural, or program revisions to
address the regulation requirements as well as other
State safety concerns for an effective, systematic SMS.
List proposed activities/actions for addressing the
identified process and program weaknesses and safety
needs (including training needs).

8.

For each major work plan activity to be accomplished,
identify the time frames allocated to the completion of
the activity including specific deadlines. (This could
be in the form of a time-phase chart.)

9.

For each major work plan activity to be accomplished,
as appropriate, identify organizational or operational
changes needed and resources to be used for the effort.
Identify the oversight procedures that will be used by
the State to assure that adequate resources are
available for timely implementation of the work plan
activities.

10.

Identify the process(es) that will be established for
evaluating the effectiveness of activities that relate
to highway safety performance and short and long term
goals. The results of these evaluations should guide
future decisions.

11.

Identify the oversight procedures that will be used by
the State for assuring coordination of the SMS with
other management systems and for assuring statewide
compatibility of systems and performance measures of
subsystems developed by MPOs, transit operators, local
governments, or other agencies.
25

12.

Provide an overall discussion of how the proposed SMS
will function on a continuing basis when fully
developed and implemented. For example, will there be
a SMS operational work group and if so, what will be
its role and authority? How will the many safety
programs, responsibilities, and activities of the
various agencies be coordinated and/or integrated into
a systematic process?

26

APPENDIX D
EXAMPLES OF IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES
Major Area One:

Coordinating and integrating broad base
safety programs......

Intra- and inter-agency coordination such as a
Community/Corridor Traffic Safety Program is critical for a
multi-disciplinary approach to a particular problem.
Coordination is also critical to ensure the available funds
are utilized in the most cost-effective manner. Working
with MPOs and other local jurisdictions can lead to a useful
process providing many returns on the dollars invested at
the local level.
Major Area Two:

Developing processes and procedures to ensure
that the major safety problems are identified
and addressed...

Many States are implementing programs in compliance with 23
CFR 924, Highway Safety Improvement Program. The key
elements become an integral part of that program. For
example, the "safety analysis" is a formal part of that
program which would lead to consideration of driver,
vehicle, and roadway environment causative factors. As
coordinated, MPOs and local jurisdictions would share their
crash data with the State (if not already on the State crash
system). Crash locations could then be ranked statewide
according to crash numbers, severity, and cost of
countermeasures. This allows projects and programs to be
prioritized on actual need, crash reduction potential, and
cost-effectiveness.
Major Area Three:

Ensuring early consideration of safety
.......

An example of implementing this area is in the development
of a landscaping project. Without full consideration for
safety, a layout may be designed to plant trees 30 feet from
a freeway. Although the 30 feet was used for safety
reasons, a safety specialist may recommend against
installing a new hazard that close to the roadway. With
input from safety specialists, the landscape architects
would have laid out a preliminary design using more
forgiving vegetation closer to the roadway.
Another example is during the construction phase. Using the
"training" key element, it is essential that construction
personnel be trained in the basics of roadway safety. They
27

should be able to recognize a safety-related design
deficiency. They would then initiate a process to check
with the designer and ensure the correct design is
constructed. Perhaps a proposed guardrail is shown on the
plans to shield a culvert end. The construction manager may
know that it would be safer to treat the culvert rather than
install the new guardrail hazard. The construction manager
would call the designer and discuss available options.
The key element "coordination" is vital for this major area.
For example, the local law enforcement agency may have a
problem with enforcement of trucking issues on a stretch of
highway that is being designed for reconstruction. If this
is known to the State Department of Transportation roadway
design section , a truck pull-out may be designed to assist
in the enforcement effort. The emergency medical personnel
should also be consulted. Highway redesign with deletion of
existing shoulders could adversely effect the EMS operations
to a degree that would warrant a reexamination of the
design.
Major Area Four:

Identifying safety needs of special user
groups......

A "shopping list" of countermeasures, sorted by potential
impact on identified problem areas and special user groups,
along with the responsible agency, has been developed in one
State. Use of this tool permits managers to make a quick
sort of activities which could be considered to address
identified problems with specific components relating to
identified special user groups.
NHTSA provides annual
information on specific projects that target special user
groups through the Administrator's Highway Safety Program of
Excellence award program and by providing specific materials
that provide ideas on ways to target special populations
(National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Month sampler
and Occupant Protection Idea Sampler).
Major Area Five:

Routinely maintaining and upgrading safety
hardware.....

As an example of routine safety maintenance, several States
have implemented sign management systems. An inventory of
all signs was conducted. The inventory identifies needed
improvements. It is also used in forecasting sign
replacement costs to address retroreflectivity.
Opportunities to improve or upgrade a safety appurtenance
may occur when it becomes necessary to repair or replace a
damaged or deteriorated device. In these situations, a
cost-effective analysis often favors upgrading or
28

replacement with a state-of-the-art device. For example, if
a deficient guardrail end terminal has been destroyed, it
would be desirable to upgrade to a state-of-the-art end
terminal in lieu of replacing in-kind.
Other States have implemented safety hardware inventories.
These inventories have assisted maintenance efforts by
systematically addressing deficient hardware features. The
inventory is updated as devices are modified and after
periodic inspections. The inspections ascertain the safety
readiness of highway features and alert responsible
personnel of corrective actions that may be needed.
Four key elements related to this major area stand out. The
first is "identification of skills and resources, i.e.,
training." Maintenance employees should be knowledgeable on
how safety features should be installed and maintained.
They should also be knowledgeable on the importance of
safety features and be able to recognize potential problem
areas.
A second element, "monitoring and evaluation of
effectiveness," can be addressed by performing reviews of
maintained devices. The review should look for problem
areas. This can lead to modifications of processes to
address the identified problems. Additionally, efforts
should be made to monitor the cost-effectiveness of a
State's maintenance program generally for opportunities to
enhance performance.
The "recognition of institutional initiatives or
coordination" element is also important for this area.
Maintenance managers coordinating with law enforcement can
improve safety in many ways. One case involves the
enforcement agency needing a space for a pull-out area along
a stretch of roadway. There was no room due to continuous
guardrail. After maintenance forces analyzed the situation
it was concluded that the location would be safer without
the guardrail. The guardrail was removed which allowed
space for the needed pull-out. This resulted from
recognition and understanding by the highway agency
personnel of enforcement agencies' need to perform their
mission within a safe roadside environment
The fourth element, public information, is a less
traditional player in this example. While many drivers
recognize the significance of color and pattern of road
striping, few are aware of the significance of roadside
reflectors as indicators of change in condition. Widely
known, this information could potentially enhance driver
awareness of conditions and minimize problems with "driver
29

inattention".

30