17-40 IGrsouley/CE 635-2017/docs... · Web viewAt the conclusion of this module, participants will be able to: Identify sources of current research that support effective road safety

Unit 5

Road Safety Program Management

Module 5.5Research Supporting Road Safety Management


Learning Objective Duration 30 Minutes

At the conclusion of this module, participants will be able to:

Identify sources of current research that support effective road safety management.

In this module, we will discuss various methods and sources for improving technical knowledge. Road safety is a rapidly changing field in terms of what works and what does not work. All safety professionals need to find time and methods for updating their knowledge on a regular basis.

The major topics we will discuss include:• Sources for research and knowledge• Road safety search engines• Major road safety journals• Major conferences• Professional research reports

Ask: What sources do you use to learn and grown your professional capacity?

Throughout this workshop we have tried to encourage students to read and keep up with the literature.

Road safety science and practice continually change with new research and experience. It is important for road safety professionals to stay current in their knowledge and maintain competency by regularly reading sources of research and practice findings.

NCHRP 17-40, June 2010 Page 1 of 8


More and more funding agencies, elected leaders, and officials in state and local governments want to know that strategies, countermeasures, and approaches have some expectation of success. Research can provide credibility and reliability to the work we do to improve road safety.

The best managers will identify research and practice findings that encompass multiple disciplines. This module highlights important sources of research and practice information.

Knowledge on road safety is obtained from a variety of sources including journal papers, research reports, conference proceedings and presentations, text books, websites, and shared experiences among professionals. These sources vary in terms of their objectivity, quality, reliability, and accuracy of the information.

Criteria for evaluating a source’s accuracy and credibility include the following:

Peer reviewed sources of information have passed through a ‘lens’ of scrutiny by safety professionals. Usually double-blind peer reviews where the authors don’t know reviewers, reviewers don’t know authors are the best. Single blind reviews in transportation journals where the authors do not know the reviewers are the most common.

Peer review generally suggests that quality is relatively high; although this is not always the case. In general, journals recognized by the Science Citation Index are of reasonably high quality.

Professional consensus is an indicator of the professional community’s acceptance of an idea/ program/countermeasure. Consensus is usually conveyed by word of mouth, through publications, and through professional organizations.

Evidence of government support of a program, countermeasure, etc., usually lends greater credibility. Government support can occur at various levels and in a range of forms. Federal, state, and local governments all produce documents such as research or project outcome reports that may provide sources of knowledge on safety management.



Objectivity is important in safety evaluation and when research is sponsored by a particular organization or agency, the agenda of that sponsor should be scrutinized. An example is when tobacco company scientists produced reports suggesting cigarettes were not harmful to human health. In general most public agencies and national laboratories are interested in fact finding, and university researchers are not invested in a particular research outcomes (exceptions have occurred). Private firms, organizations, and foundations as well as lobby groups may have an agenda that leans toward a certain research outcome, and as such requires greater scrutiny.

Search engines allow researchers and road safety program managers to examine a wide variety of topics and sources in a limited period of time. Several popular search engines exist for identifying (and sometimes obtaining) safety management information, both published work and work in progress.

Users can search by subject, author, or title, and most search engines offer advanced searches where additional criteria can be used, such as meeting multiple criteria (e.g. author and title), time windows (e.g. within last 5 years), and within a particular journal. Depending on copyright and license agreements, some papers are immediately available for download, while others can be obtained for a fee or by subscribing to a journal.

Some of the more popular research databases with search engines include:

• Transportation Research Information Service (TRIS)

• TRB Research in Progress (RIP) Database• Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)• National Technical Information Service Database

(NTIS)• National Highway Traffic Administration

(NHTSA), and • Federal Highway Administration; especially the

Office of Safety.

A variety of journals address safety as either a main topic or they address it on a periodic basis. For example, a substantial portion of Accident Analysis and Prevention (AA&P) papers are related to highway



safety, whereas the ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering may publish one safety related paper every several issues. How often a journal is cited is one measure of journal quality. These metrics change over time; however, the AA&P and Transportation Research Record, for example, are consistently ranked highly. Following is a list of many of the journals that publish safety-related journal papers.

• Accident Analysis and Prevention, Elsevier• Journal of Safety Research, Elsevier• Transportation Research Record, Transportation

Research Board• American Journal of Public Health, published by

the American Public Health Association• ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, a

product of the American Society of Civil Engineers

• ITE Journal, published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and

• Public Works Management & Policy, from Sage Periodicals

Other research journals include:• Traffic Engineering and Control, Printerhall

Limited• Traffic Safety, National Safety Council• Transportation Research A – E, Elsevier• Transportation Science, Institute of Operations

Research and Management Sciences• Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems,

Taylor & Francis• Safety Science, Elsevier

Often the inside cover will reveal information about the journal, as will the journal website. This information usually includes editor and editorial board information, number of issues and papers published per year, website information, subscription information, and publisher address(es). Journal papers always contain complete author information, references, and publication processing information.

Journal articles can be accessed through a variety of mechanisms. University and large institutions typically purchase on-line subscriptions to many journals and databases, paying fixed fees for unlimited access for their members which allows them to download a full copy of any article. Many university libraries also house hard-copies of many journals, and a single copy can be made for personal use under copyright law.



Many journals also offer on-line purchases of journal papers for non-subscribed users. These are available for download at a price per paper purchase, where prices range from $10.00 to around $100.00.



Some search engines will also identify locations where the article can be obtained. For example, WorldCat.org will identify libraries that own a particular article and how far it is to the location.

Many of safety-related reports and strategies for accessing them have already been identified in previous discussions. Additional sources for obtaining professional reports include:

• AASHTO website. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

• NCHRP Research Reports and Syntheses: National Cooperative Highway Research Program, National Academies of Science.

• City, county, and state Department of Transportation websites and libraries

• Lobby/interest group websites and offices• Governor’s Highway Safety Association website • University transportation center websites• National laboratory websites• Individual faculty member websites and offices• Consulting company websites and offices

One of the best places to increase your knowledge of road safety research and practice is by attending conferences where speakers and panelists present their latest findings and experiences, vendors display their wares, and you have the opportunity to network and share information with your colleagues. Few conferences focus solely on safety but many will have one or more presentations on the issue.

Two of the better known conferences that include information on road safety are annual meetings of the Transportation Research Board and the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Undoubtedly the largest and most scientifically oriented conference on transportation issues in general, and road safety in particular, is the TRB Annual Meeting. TRB is held the 2nd or 3rd week of January each year in Washington, DC and attended by more than 10,000 transportation officials, practitioners, and researchers. Many opportunities exist for getting involved in road safety issues through committees, subcommittees, and task forces, or by preparing a paper for presentation at a future TRB meeting.



The Governors Highway Safety Association sponsors an annual meeting, usually in September, which is attended primarily by staff from the Governor’s Highway Safety Office and federal officials. The main focus of the agenda is on the behavioral aspects of road safety, and it is a good place to learn more about federal policy and regulations, program management, and behavioral countermeasure strategies.

Other relevant conferences include: The AASHTO Standing Committee on Highway

Traffic Safety holds an annual meeting for its multidisciplinary road safety members, but anyone may attend. This is a good meeting to gain a more in depth knowledge what states are doing to improve road safety as well as discuss legislative, policy, and regulation initiatives, etc. Usually the members of SCOHTS have been involved in road safety for some time and can be a valuable source of not only current information, but also a historical perspective.

Given the importance of safety, SCOHTS formed a Safety Management Subcommittee which holds an annual meeting in conjunction with GHSA. The Subcommittee has two or more members from each state, generally the state safety engineer and the Governor’s Representative for Highway Safety. Several work groups meet during this conference to design strategies and activities that support road safety initiatives at all levels.

Lifesavers is an annual meeting held in the spring of each year, which targets people early in their road safety careers. It is a good venue to learn the basics about behavioral countermeasures, e.g. occupant protection, impaired driving, etc. and is valuable for expanding your road safety network and learning what others are doing in their states and communities.

Many states host an annual safety summit that focuses primarily on the behavioral aspects of road safety. However, these conferences are becoming more multidisciplinary and focused on SHSP implementation. They are a good place to meet others from around the state, to develop a network of contacts and learn what others are doing.



Conference attendance can be expensive which can limit participation. It is important, however, to “position” yourself to earn entry to these events. This can be accomplished by volunteering to serve on a national committee or publishing a report or paper. Managers are more likely to support your travel if you have a specific role to play. Another strategy for getting invited to a conference is to conduct a careful evaluation of one or more of the countermeasures you are implementing. If you have good scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of your actions, many will want to hear about it. In addition, it’s a good idea to insert a professional development plan into your annual performance review and list opportunities where you can grow your knowledge of road safety as an objective.

The purpose of this module was to identify sources and ways for road safety professionals to increase their knowledge through access to quality research. Some of the ways you can accomplish this task is through:

• Road safety search engines• Journals• Conferences, and• Professional research reports.


17-40 IGrsouley/CE 635-2017/docs... · Web viewAt the conclusion of this module, participants will be able to: Identify sources of current research that support effective road safety

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