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Title: ENHANCING HIGHWAY SAFETY THROUGH ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT IN AN AGE OF LIMITED RESOURCES: A--PLENARY SESSION PRESENTATION BY FRANCIS B. FRANCOIS
Accession Number: 00372893
Record Type: Component
Digital Copy: Availability: Transportation Research Board Editorial Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Abstract: Changes in our nation and how we make ourselves mobile have brought new problems that pose challenges to the best safety thinking of yesterday. We have lowered the fatalities on our nation's 3.9 million miles of highways and streets. But we still expect accident deaths to exceed 53,000 people this year, up from some 51,000 last year. Current projections are that fatalities will climb to 80,000 or more by 1990. We are faced with a different mix of vehicles on our roads today compared with ten years ago, and that mix will change even more in the years ahead. The era of small cars is with us, and they are mixing on our highways in growing numbers with large cars and increasingly bigger trucks. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for last year indicate that, while small cars account for only 33 percent of the national fleet, they were involved in 51 percent of the fatal accidents. Part of the reason this is true is that yesterday's safe designs are sometimes today's hazard. We are seeing the overall economic cost of accidents continue to climb. Last year, the cost is estimated to have been about 33 cents per gallon of gasoline consumed, or 2.6 cents per vehicle mile of travel. And that excludes nonmeasurable costs, like pain, suffering, and family disruptions. We have growing numbers of foreign nationals on our highway system, particularly in Florida and the Southwest, many of whom are illegal aliens who do not speak English and who will avoid applying for citizenship and driver's licenses. They create a new need to design "forgiving" highways, roads that can be safely driven even by the person who does not speak English and does not fully understand the complexity of a modern urban freeway. (Author)
Supplemental Notes: This paper appeared in TRB Unpublished Report No. 25, Enhancing Highway Safety Through Engineering Management in an Age of Limited Resources, March 1982.
Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
Contract Numbers: DTFH61-81-X-00005
Corporate Authors: Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Authors: Francois, F BPagination: p. 59-62
Publication Date: 1982-3
TRT Terms: Uncontrolled Terms: Old TRIS Terms: Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics
Files: TRIS, TRB
Created Date: May 31 1983 12:00AM
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