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Advanced vehicle technologies have the potential to improve safety and convenience for drivers; however, in order to realize these benefits, it is important that drivers use the systems appropriately. Past research has documented gaps in drivers’ understanding of how new technology works and when it should be used. It follows that the interplay between a […]
An overarching goal of road corridor projects is to reduce traffic delays and improve safety for all users, including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and delivery vehicles. Doing so often involves changing the way road users access sites along the road, such as by removing or relocating driveways; adding medians, turning restrictions, service and frontage roads, and […]
Use of DOT-compliant motorcycle helmets was 73.8 percent in 2023, not statistically different at the 0.05 level from 66.5 percent in 2022. The 2023 estimate is the highest ever recorded. The 2023 data collection occurred during the usual timeframe of early June, immediately following the Click It or Ticket campaign. There were 945 motorcyclists observed […]
Dec. 2-6, 2024, marks Older Driver Safety Awareness Week. As the population of older adults (65 and up) continues to grow, promoting safe driving practices becomes increasingly important. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 17% of licensed drivers in 2022 fell into the older adult category, totaling over 57.8 million people. In 2022, the number […]
The Systemic Safety User Guide is an update to the Federal Highway Administration’s Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool. The Guide presents a process for incorporating systemic planning into the safety management process. The chapters describe how agencies can identify focus crash types, facility types, and risk factors; screen and prioritize candidate locations using risk; identify […]
This report reviews and assesses driver monitoring systems (DMS) and related technologies for alcoholimpairment detection and SAE International Level 2 partial driving automation systems. For the review oftechnologies to identify driver alcohol impairment, 331 technologies were reviewed. The systems were classifiedas physiology-based, tissue spectroscopy-based, camera-based, vehicle kinematics-based, hybrid, and patent-stage systems. A key focus was […]
Use of DOT-compliant motorcycle helmets was 73.8 percent1 in 2023, not statistically different at the 0.05 level from 66.5 percent in 2022. The 2023 estimate is the highest ever recorded. This result is from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), the only survey that provides nationwide, probability-based, observed data on motorcycle helmet use in […]
In 2022 there were an estimated 5,930,496 police-reported traffic crashes in which 42,514 people were killed and an estimated 2,382,771 people were injured. Read the full report here.
The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is urging drivers to stay alert and slow down for first responders working on Alabama’s roads during Crash Responder Safety Week, Nov. 18-22. Each year, ALDOT and emergency responders statewide join a national effort to improve roadway safety for first responders, from police to EMS and tow truck drivers. […]
This report documents the effort by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety and Operations Research & Development and the FHWA Office of Operations to assess current data sources, to compile existing data, to review gaps, and to propose a data collection strategy that will start to quantify the occurrence of responder struck-by crashes. […]