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Automated cars and light-duty trucks (from vehicles already on the road equipped with driver assistance technologies to fully driverless cars still in development) pose safety and infrastructure challenges for policymakers. Automated vehicles potentially promise transformative benefits in safety, mobility, and other areas. However, the successful development of these vehicles and technologies may pose a range […]
From the Mountain Plains Consortium Report: Perception-Reaction Time (PRT) and deceleration rate are two key components in geometric design of highways and streets. Combined with a design speed, they determine the minimum required stopping sight distance (SSD). Current American Association of Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) SSD guidance related to PRT and deceleration rate are based […]
Office of Highway Policy Information: Traffic Volume Trends is a monthly report based on hourly traffic count data reported by the States. These data are collected at approximately 4,000 continuous traffic counting locations nationwide and are used to estimate the percent change in traffic for the current month compared with the same month in the […]
Transportation.gov: The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published new data today showing a record-high 221.7 million licensed drivers in the U.S. in 2016, including 41.7 million – or almost one in five – who are 65 years or older. This age group is growing faster than any other and is far outpacing their teenage counterparts. The […]
Buckle Up – Every Trip. Every Time. Thanksgiving weekend, millions will hit the roads, eager to spend time with family and friends. It’s one of the busiest travel times of the year, and unfortunately more people on the roadways means the potential for more vehicle crashes. During the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend (6 p.m. Wednesday, November […]
Transportation.gov: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today released fatal traffic crash data for calendar year 2016. According to NHTSA data, which was collected from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 37,461 lives were lost on U.S. roads in 2016, an increase of 5.6 percent from calendar year 2015. […]
Since the Department of Transportation was established in 1966, there have been more than 2.2 million motor vehicle-related fatalities in the United States. In addition, after decades of decline, motor vehicle fatalities spiked by more than 7.2 percent in 2015, the largest single-year increase since 1966. The major factor in 94 percent of all fatal […]
The U.S. Department of Transportation and its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued new voluntary guidance about developing vehicles using automated driving systems, in what was widely reported to be a more industry-friendly version than guidance last year by the Obama administration. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the latest guidance, dubbed 2.0, “supports further development of this […]
Many of America’s leading companies are exploring one of the most exciting innovations in recent transportation history—automated driving systems (ADS)—commonly referred to as automated or self-driving vehicles. At DOT, we’re excited about the possibility of automated vehicles delivering a future that is safer, freer, and more efficient. That’s why, this week, we released Automated Driving Systems: […]
A product of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Safety Research and Development Program, the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) is a suite of safety analysis tools to evaluate the safety and operational effects of geometric-design decisions on highways.