Highway Safety - Projects & progress

2022

WSDOT's Road Safety — The agency's update to its executive order "Advancing the Safe System Approach for All Road Users" differs from FHWA's Safe System Principles. WSDOT's approach aligns more with the international method as it provides a more active description of the Safe System Approach. WSDOT's goal is to systematically reduce fatal and serious injury crash potential through this approach, which considers highway safety for all road users in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation facilities.

In the 2022 Legislative session, with WSDOT input, the state transportation budget included requirements to develop Complete Streets projects using Safe System Principles. WSDOT is reviewing its safety subcategories to align with the Safe System Approach, Complete Streets policies, and the WSDOT Active Transportation Plan. With this approach, all parts of the transportation system are expected to be strengthened to reinforce each other, so if one part fails, the other parts still protect road users. In this way, redundancy is provided for the principles that comprise the safe system.

The Safe Systems Approach applies the following principles:

Eliminate deaths and serious injuries: While no crashes are desirable, eliminating crashes that result in fatalities and serious injuries is a priority.

Support safe road use: Road users inevitably make mistakes that lead to crashes, and the transportation system and vehicles can be designed and operated to reduce injury outcomes from those errors. A forgiving system accommodates reasonable and predictable human limitations and behavior (such as diligence, perception, and attention). Roads developed in this manner and that serve as "self-enforcing and self-explaining roads" make it less likely for human errors to occur, and when the errors do occur, they result in fewer fatal and serious injury crashes.

Reduce large crash forces: Road users have limits for tolerating crash forces before death or serious injury occurs. Therefore, it is important within the Safe System Approach to adopt designs and operational elements that account for and reduce crash speeds and improve impact angles to be within survivable limits.

Responsibility is shared: All stakeholders (transportation system designers, managers, road users, vehicle manufacturers, policymakers, etc.) must work together to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes. The focus is placed on the factors contributing to traffic fatalities and serious injuries as opposed to individual road users.

Strengthen all parts: All parts of the transportation system are strengthened to reinforce each other so that if one part fails, the other parts still protect road users. In this way, redundancy is provided for the elements that make up the Safe System.

Safety is proactive: Proactive (systemic safety) approaches address context, contributing factors, and crash types to help reduce the potential for fatal and serious injury crashes.

WSDOT, partners create Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment

WSDOT's Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment evaluates the safety performance of Washington state regarding its plans to improve the safety of vulnerable road users. The evidence-based, value-driven process identifies areas for potential projects for vulnerable road users. Washington state's Strategic Highway Safety Plan—Target Zero—sets a goal for zero driving-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

To reach the goal of zero, partners are working to develop safety implementation strategies to reduce the exposure, likelihood, and severity of road users in crashes. Safety management is accomplished through planning based on analyzing, evaluating, and diagnosing crashes that lead to deaths and serious injuries. The use of evidence-based practices allows WSDOT to develop a reliable understanding of past, current, and potential future trends. Better understanding leads to addressing road characteristics, contributing factors, and sociodemographic and social equity considerations necessary to reduce crash potential for all road users. This information guides the development of proactive strategies to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes.

With the combined fatalities and serious injuries among people walking and biking increasing, proactive countermeasures are intended to reduce the potential for crashes before they occur. Recognizing that vulnerable road users operate in different environments and contexts allows for the development of focused strategies and countermeasures that benefit all road users.

2021

WSDOT and its partners strive to reach Target Zero with the Safe System Approach

In 2013, WSDOT adopted a version of the Safe System Approach, which focuses on speed management, reducing the force of crashes and making the safety program more proactive. Efforts have focused on constructing roundabouts at intersections, installing safety hardware as needed and addressing median crossovers in problem areas. The Safe System Approach is a holistic approach to road safety based on the following elements:

• Safe roads
• Safe speeds
• Safe vehicles
• Safe road users, and
• Post-crash care

It uses proactive methods (known as systematic safety) to address things like contributing factors and crash types to help reduce the potential for fatal and serious injury crashes. With this approach, all parts of the transportation system are strengthened to reinforce each other so if one part fails, the other parts still protect road users. In this way, redundancy is provided for the elements that make up the safe system.

The Safe Systems Approach applies the following principles:

Eliminate death and serious injuries: While no crashes are desirable, eliminating crashes that result in death and serious injuries is a priority.

Support safe road use: Road users inevitably make mistakes that lead to crashes, and the transportation system and vehicles can be designed and operated to reduce injury outcomes from those errors. A forgiving system accommodates reasonable and predictable human limitations and behavior (such as diligence, perception, and attention). Roads developed in this manner and that serve as "self-enforcing and self explaining roads" make it less likely for human errors to occur, and when the errors do occur, they result in fewer fatal and serious injuries.

Reduce large crash forces: Road users have limits for tolerating crash forces before death or serious injury occurs. Therefore, it is important within the Safe System approach to adopt designs and operational elements that account for and reduce crash speeds and improve impact angles to be within survivable limits.

Responsibility is shared: All stakeholders (transportation system designers, managers, road users, vehicle manufacturers, policy makers, etc.) must work together to reduce fatal and serious injuries. The focus is placed on the factors contributing to traffic fatalities and serious injuries as opposed to individual road users.

Legislature mandates a Complete Streets approach

In 2022, the Washington State Legislature passed the Move Ahead Washington package. This included direction for WSDOT to "improve the safety, mobility and accessibility of state highways" by incorporating Complete Streets principles. The requirement applies to state transportation projects over $500,000 starting design on or after July 1, 2022.

Complete Streets provide appropriate mobility and safety considerations for all aspects of the road regardless of the persons age and ability and may include: sidewalks, bike lanes, shared-use paths, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crosswalks, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, roundabouts, and more. The effort relies on the elements and principles of the Safe System Approach to be successful.

Developing complete streets using these principles is vital to WSDOT achieving its Target Zero goals and objectives. Complete Streets can, and often, include making walking, bicycling, and rolling more inviting by connecting sidewalks and bicycle facilities, and potentially slowing traffic with lower speeds, smaller lanes, and even reductions in the number of lanes. These actions have been shown to reduce the potential for crashes and injuries for all road users when applied consistently to a given road system.

2020

Rumble strips systemic review supports roadway improvements in state

Rumble strips are regarded as one of the most effective countermeasures to treat locations where drivers leave the roadway. WSDOT has about 3,400 miles of centerline rumble strips and 500 miles of shoulder rumble strips.

WSDOT conducted a systemic review that determined the installation of rumble strips for facilities with annual average daily traffic of 20,000 or higher offers the lowest potential benefit. Other findings showed failure to consider the density of target crashes for the group of similar sites would focus investment on the largest portion of the system but with the lowest density of these crashes.

Because crashes fluctuate from year to year, a more advanced analysis approach was needed to help WSDOT more effectively target investment for the greatest return on investment. To avoid penalizing locations with fewer crashes and identify sites with greatest return on investment it was determined to be necessary to conduct predictive analysis from the AASHTO Highway Safety Manual of the two-lane rural state highway system and benefit-cost of rumble strips installation.

The results of this analysis are now deployed on the WSDOT Pavement Management System so agency staff can access the results along with line diagrams of geometrics, pavement characteristics, traffic characteristics and other key project information. This analysis provides the foundation for not only a system-wide perspective on project selection but also supports other statewide analysis that can support scoping, design, and project development across the state.

2019

WSDOT reports MAP-21 highway safety performance targets for 2019

WSDOT reported its Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century highway baselines and safety targets for 2020 to the Federal Highway Administration on August 31, 2019. In December 2019, FHWA will make its first determination of whether WSDOT has made significant progress toward achieving its 2018 goals for highway safety (also referred to as PM1).

2018

Washington falling short of its federal highway safety targets in 2018

Initial analysis shows that Washington is falling short of showing significant progress toward its federally-mandated Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act highway safety targets for 2018. FHWA established the measures to track traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads in all states. In Washington, WSDOT and statewide safety partners aspire to reach target zero for all five measures by 2030.

Washington's 547 traffic fatalities in 2018 brought the state's five-year rolling average to 531.8 fatalities per year (2014-2018). WSDOT and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission had previously set a target of 415.5 or fewer fatalities per year for the five-year average in 2018.

There were 2,232 serious traffic injuries statewide in 2018, which brought the five-year average for this measure to 2,154.6 per year (2014-2018). Washington's statewide target for the five-year average in 2018 was 1,788.0 or fewer serious traffic injuries. In order to show significant progress for 2018, WSDOT has to either achieve the targets or be less than the baseline (2012-2016 five-year annual average) for a minimum of four of the five measures.

FHWA will review and make a determination on state and MPO progress toward the 2018 targets in December 2019 and report its decision in March 2020. If the U.S. Department of Transportation determines WSDOT has not met—or made significant progress toward achieving—its safety performance targets, WSDOT must:

1) Dedicate its funding obligation equal to the apportionment for federal Highway Safety Improvement Program to the state for the prior year to highway safety improvement projects until the U.S. DOT determines that the state has made significant progress or met the targets; and

2) Submit an annual safety implementation plan until the U.S. DOT determines that the state has made significant progress or met the targets.

In addition to the previously mentioned five federally mandated safety performance areas, Washington must show improvement in three areas: Rate of fatalities on high-risk rural roads, per-capita rate of fatalities to drivers and pedestrians aged 65 and older, and fatalities at highway-railway crossings