Study evaluates highway safety needs of special population groups
Over the past three decades, America's highways have become statistically safer. The percentage of deaths related to transportation now represents a smaller portion of total deaths. The number of fatalities involving motor vehicles has decreased from an all-time high of 54,589 in 1972 to a low of 39,250 in 1992. The fatality rate per million vehicle miles traveled has fallen from 4.74 in 1970 to 1.70 in 1996. Stricter law enforcement, seat belt legislation, drinking and driving awareness, public education, and better roadway design all have contributed to this accomplishment. Conditions have improved despite more intensive use of roads and many more vehicles in service.
Although the transportation safety community has been successful in reducing injuries and deaths, there is still room for improvement. Tens of thousands of highway travelers are killed and millions more are injured in highway crashes every year. Half of all accidental deaths continue to be transportation-related. Ninety percent of these transportation-related deaths are the result of motor vehicle accidents, and these losses cost Americans billions of dollars. From 1990 to 1994, the total cost of crashes increased from $137.5 billion to $150.5 billion.
Although the totals are down, a closer examination of highway crash data reveals several inconsistencies. Certain population groups are over-represented in highway crashes. Because most highway facilities, traffic control devices, driver policies, and regulations are designed with the characteristics of the average driver in mind, drivers requiring unique considerations may be lost in the shuffle. This project addressed the highway safety needs of six special population groups: older drivers, young drivers, school-aged children, international tourists, recent immigrants, and persons with disabilities. Florida served as an excellent site to conduct research for this problem. Many of the special population groups are attracted to the state's special recreational attractions, unique locations, warm climate, and tropical environments. The Southeastern Transportation Center (STC) sponsored CUTR and the USF Department of Civil Engineering to investigate this problem. The first phase of the project that began in June 1997 has been completed.
The goals of this project were to identify critical safety issues for the selected special population groups and then to suggest appropriate countermeasures to improve safety among the groups. The project goals were accomplished by focusing on two basic tasks. The first task involved ranking the importance of the special population groups with regard to highway safety. After an order was established, critical issues unique to each group were identified. Once these tasks were completed, suggestions for improvements could be made.
Research began with an extensive literature review that helped identify the special population groups. To evaluate the needs of the special population groups, the research team worked closely with local and state transportation agencies, law enforcement officials, engineers, safety professionals, and other related groups, such as Community Traffic Safety Team members. Researchers developed and conducted two surveys for selected transportation officials.
The first survey was designed to gather preliminary data so that the special population groups could be identified. This survey also helped the research team get a feel for the importance of each group and the issues facing them. Survey respondents were asked to rank the importance of the six special population groups from "less important" (1) to "more important" (5).
Building on the results of the first survey, researchers developed a second, more detailed instrument to be administered to the same group of professionals. This survey was also based on a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 meaning "no impact," and 5 representing "high impact." Questions related to issues facing each special population group. Respondents were asked to rank the impact of each issue on accident rate, the priority of each issue, and how effective policy changes would be as a countermeasure. Other questions were concerned with how easy it would be to implement the change and the economic feasibility of countermeasures for each issue.
In addition to the identification of the critical groups and issues, the study suggested suitable countermeasures to address each issue. These potential changes were either in public policy or engineering practices. To summarize the findings, countermeasure matrices were prepared for each special population group.
To track critical groups, forecasting models were developed for the special population groups. National forecasting models were developed for elderly drivers, young drivers, and school-age children. Models formed for Florida included elderly drivers, young drivers, international tourists, and school-aged children. These models allow the fatality or crash rates of each special population group to be projected until the end of the study period.
Two papers were written based on the findings of Phase I of the project and submitted for possible presentation and publication. Through the guidance attained in Phase I, plans and procedures for Phase II have been well formulated. The research team expects to carry out an evaluation of some of the suggested countermeasures. It will then be possible to select the most appropriate solutions. The team is confident that the findings of this project will be extremely beneficial in addressing the highway safety problems facing each special population group.
For further information, contact CUTR Senior Research Associate Patricia Turner at (813) 974-3276, turner@cutr.usf.edu.
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