An official website of the United States government.
Here's how you know
The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites always use a .gov or .mil domain. Before sharing sensitive information online, make sure you’re on a .gov or .mil site by inspecting your browser's address (or "location") bar.
This site is also protected by an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate that's been signed by the U.S. government. The https:// means all transmitted data is encrypted — in other words, any information or browsing history that you provide is transmitted securely.
Green. Yellow. Red. Go. Slow. Stop. Simple instructions commanded by a seemingly simple machine – the traffic light. The technology is as old as the Industrial Revolution, with the first light, two gas-powered flames, controlling traffic in London in 1868. They have improved since, of course. The current three-light system and electricity came in the […]
There are more fatal crashes during the days surrounding Independence Day than the rest of the year, according to an analysis of state traffic records by researchers at The University of Alabama. During the past five years, the five days around the Fourth of July averaged three fatal crashes a day, 29% higher than the […]
The purpose of this report is to update the quantitative relationships between wet weather (and resulting wet pavement) on crash frequency and severity that were original reported in a Power Point presentation in 2014. The objective of this second update is to determine the degree to which the dramatic increase in fatal crashes in CY2016 […]
Traffic fatalities in 2018 declined 1.0 percent from 2017, to an estimated 36,750 people, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As American motorists’ total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased by 0.4 percent in 2018, the fatality rate declined to an estimated 1.14 per 100 million VMT, a drop from […]
The Alabama Department of Transportation is expanding its ASAP program. ASAP stands for for Alabama Service and Assistance Patrol. It’s a free service where a truck is sent out to help with crashes, disabled vehicles, or any other obstruction that slows traffic flow. The goal is to minimize interstate traffic congestion and assist motorists with […]
With the weather warming up, you may see more motorcyclists on the roadways. Registered motorcycles top 8-point-four million up 23 percent in the past decade. They’re popular for weekend riders and for general transportation. But it can be a risky ride for those in Alabama. The state ranks number fifteen on the list of most […]
Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicle tech company, is investing $15 million to establish a Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research at Carnegie Mellon University to improve self-driving technology. The grant is for five years. The Autonomous Vehicle Research center will focus on improving sensors’ perception and algorithms designed to improve safety and […]
Animal-vehicle collisions (AVC), and deer-vehicle collisions (DVC) in particular, are a major safety problem on Virginia roads. Mitigation measures such as improved fencing and location-specific driver alerts are being implemented and evaluated in Virginia and elsewhere. One of the most promising mitigation methods uses a buried cable animal detection system (BCADS) to provide roadside or […]
This report explores how seamless data collection, analysis and sharing can unlock innovations in transport safety. The rise of smartphones, sensors and connected objects is relentlessly producing more data. Progress in computing power, data science and artificial intelligence make it possible to interpret them. This presents an opportunity for the transport sector in general and […]
Older drivers represent the highest injury and fatality rate per 100 million miles driven. The disproportionate fatality risk is linked to several known factors, ranging from failure to yield to cognitive and visual limitations to seat-belt use abstention to fragility. Through a series of focus groups, usability tests, and a controlled field test, a universally […]