Speed Management Program Plan
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Speed Management Program Plan Mission of the United States Department of Transportation: Serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people today and into the future. SPEED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM PLAN INITIATIVE UPDATE This document is an update of the Speed Management Strategic Initiative (retitled Speed Management Program Plan), originally published in 20051 and was developed jointly by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration , and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to address speeding as a contributor to highway crashes and fatalities. The strategies contained in this initiative incorporate recommendations of the Transportation Research Board contained in Special Report 254, Managing Speed: Review of Current Practice for Setting and Enforcing Speed Limits and parallel elements from Volume 23, National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 500: A Guide for Reducing Speeding- Related Crashes. 1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration , & Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2005, September). Speed management strategic initiative. (Report No. DOT HS 809 924). Washington, DC: Authors. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GOAL The goal of this Speed Management Program Plan is to improve public health and safety by reducing speeding-related fatalities and injuries. OUTCOMES 1. Reduction in speeding-related fatalities 2. Reduction in speeding-related injuries 3. Improved safety experience for all road users, including motorists, pedestrians, and 2 bicyclists CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES The United States Department of Transportation’s highest priority is the improvement of safety throughout the transportation sector. To this end, DOT employees are committed to strengthen the safety culture through our work, and to inspire and support our partners, our stakeholders, and the public in our efforts to reduce transportation-related fatalities and injuries and promote a safe transportation system for all users. Much progress has been made in traffic safety. Over the last 40 years, there have been significant reductions in fatalities and injuries related to impaired driving and occupant protection. Recent efforts are raising public awareness on distracted driving and are making a positive difference for that traffic safety problem. However, improvements on speeding-related traffic crashes continue to pose many difficult challenges as the percentage of speeding-related fatal crashes has remained around 32% for more than a decade. DOT recognizes the ongoing challenges that States and communities face in trying to reduce speeding-related fatalities and injuries. Most people admit they speed at least some of the time when they are driving, but they often do not believe they are driving unsafely when they speed. At the same time, most people feel threatened by the speeding of others and want something to be done to reduce the speeding of others and improve driving safety. 2 Throughout the Speed Management Program Plan “bicyclist” refers to all cyclists including riders of two-wheel non-motorized vehicles, tricycles, and unicycles powered solely by pedals. 2 The relationship between drivers and speeding is complicated and often paradoxical in nature. As such, it requires nothing short of a major cultural shift with regard to the dangers and the acceptability of speeding by the public for significant reductions in speeding-related crashes to occur. Forty years ago, the public tolerated impaired driving and didn’t recognize the importance of seat belts in traffic safety. Through the concerted efforts of ordinary people and organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), assisted by DOT and other stakeholders, the culture changed. Impaired driving is no longer tolerated by the public and today, the vast majority of drivers use seat belts and child safety seats. Similar joint efforts are now changing the public’s acceptance of distracted driving. It is now time to address the issue of speeding and work to increase the public’s understanding of the dangers of speeding and the importance of complying with appropriately set posted speed limits. KEY ELEMENTS IN THIS PLAN Changing public attitudes regarding speeding and speed management will require a comprehensive and concerted effort, involving a wide variety of strategies. This plan identifies six primary focus areas: A. Data and Data-Driven Approaches, B. Research and Evaluation, C. Technology, D. Enforcement and Adjudication, E. Engineering, and F. Education and Communications. Specific goals, objectives, and action items are identified for each focus area. The appendix also identifies priority areas that warrant immediate, more focused attention. These priority areas have the potential to create focal points for efforts intended to address the dangers of speeding, to create synergy involving the various partners and stakeholders who are interested in this issue, and to bring about meaningful change. It is expected that these priorities may evolve over time and they should be revisited when this program plan is next updated. 3 The priority areas discussed in depth in this plan are: • Uniform, timely, integrated, accurate and complete speed data (Focus Area A), • Research and evaluation regarding the effects of travel speed and speed limits on crash risk and regarding human factors related to speed (Focus Area B; Goals 1 and 2), • Engineering measures to better manage speed, including setting appropriate speed limits, facilitating design of self-enforcing roads, and addressing speed on curves (Focus Area E; Objectives 1-3 ), and • Education and Communication (Focus Area F). COOPERATION DOT looks forward to working with its partners, stakeholders, and the public to support this shift in traffic safety culture, a shift in the public acceptability of speeding, a shift in speeding-related traffic enforcement techniques and practices, and a shift in how speeding-related information is collected and disseminated. Progress in these areas can lead to significant gains in reducing speeding-related fatalities and injuries. The templates for instituting cultural change are there. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6 Federal Policy on Speed Management ...................................................................................... 8 Federal Role in Speed Management .......................................................................................... 8 Speed Management Rationale................................................................................................... 9 Setting Speed Limits ................................................................................................................. 10 Driver Risk and Perception ....................................................................................................... 10 Overview of Current Issues and Challenges ............................................................................. 11 A Vision for Speed Management Based on Core Principles .................................................... 12 Focus Areas Overview .............................................................................................................. 13 Focus Area A: Data and Data Driven Approaches .................................................................... 14 Focus Area B: Research and Evaluation ................................................................................... 16 Focus Area C: Technology ........................................................................................................ 20 Focus Area D: Enforcement and Adjudication ......................................................................... 22 Focus Area E: Engineering ........................................................................................................ 25 Focus Area F: Education and Communications ........................................................................ 28 Summary .................................................................................................................................. 31 Data Sets Speed-Related Crashes by Roadway Function ............................................................ 33 Speed-Related Crashes by Vehicles Miles Traveled and Roadway Function .............. 33 Speed-related Crashes by Vehicle Type ...................................................................... 34 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 35 5 INTRODUCTION Speeding -- exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for conditions -- has consistently been estimated to be a contributing factor in approximately one-third of all fatal crashes with annual costs exceeding $40 billion.3 The precise role of speeding in crashes can be difficult to ascertain, as the speeding is often defined in broad terms. Further, the determination of whether speeding was involved in a fatal crash is often based on the judgment of the investigating law enforcement officer. Even when speeding is listed as a contributing factor in a crash, it may not have been the causative factor. Speeding is a highly complex issue, involving public attitudes, road user behavior,