A Guide to Applying the Safe System Approach to Transportation Planning, Design, and Operations (2025) / Chapter Skim
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2 Safe System Policy
2 Safe System Policy
Pages 10-19
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From page 10... ...
Currently, transportation safety policies tend to focus on providing protection for vehicle occupants and are organized around active measures, ones that rely on individual road users to adopt safe behaviors such as requiring people to wear seat belts or motorcycle helmets. However, policies could also advance population-level harm-reduction practices (Ederer et al.
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From page 11... ...
For example, a community might have a local policy that establishes default 20 miles per hour (mph) posted speed limits on local streets unless otherwise specified.
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From page 12... ...
graduated driver licensing, red-light-running cameras, speed safety cameras Building codes regarding whether sustainable modes of transportation are required to be considered, street design types (eliminate cul-de-sacs) , providing street grids, Codes disallowing gated communities, parking maximums/parking unbundled from residential and office uses, fire codes that require unobstructed street width Regulations Posted speed limit setting Policies That Guide Choices Rules The National Car Assessment Program Standards and design models for how a road should be Standards designed, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices Agreement around reducing or eliminating deaths and Agreements or guidance documents serious traffic-related injuries Source: Adapted from Guide to Developing a Vision Zero Plan (LaJeunesse et al.
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From page 13... ...
This speed limiter and raised crossing policy combination integrates a reliably protective vehicle technology (i.e., speed governance) with an engineering countermeasure designed to calm car traffic in the realm of crossing pedestrians (i.e., raised pedestrian crossings at transit stop locations)
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From page 14... ...
permitted profile heights in areas with high pedestrian activity Installing seat belt Secures vehicle interlocks in occupants to their − − − High vehicles seats, allowing the vehicle's crush zone to absorb the kinetic energy transferred in a crash Installing speed Prevents drivers of governors/ municipal fleet limiters in all vehicles from − − Medium municipal or state traveling at unsafe fleet vehicles speeds and conveys lower operating speed norms Requiring Reduces vehicle location-based operating speeds in speed limiters in locations − − Low all commercial pedestrians are and private likely to be present vehicles in areas with high pedestrian activity
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From page 15... ...
. Improves How Safety Is IRA, PCC, or Example Policy Improved Exposure Likelihood Severity CD1 Costs2 Developing Reduces chances of policies requiring vehicle-pedestrian forward- and near- crashes by sensing − − − Low side-facing pedestrians and sensors on heavy cyclist in heavy vehicles to detect vehicles' blind pedestrians and spots cyclists Setting posted When reliably speed limits based enforced and on harm designed to slow − − Low minimization vehicles, reduces principles, road injury likelihood function, and and severity by severe crash types lowering vehicle rather than operating speeds reliance on operating speed data Instituting or Increases the odds enforcing a vehicle occupants statewide primary will be secured to − − − Medium enforcement seat- their seats, allowing belt-use law the vehicle's crush zone to absorb the kinetic energy transferred in a crash Implementing Deters drivers from speed safety operating their cameras vehicles at unsafe − − High (automated speed speeds while enforcement)
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From page 16... ...
. Improves How Safety Is IRA, PCC, or Example Policy Improved Exposure Likelihood Severity CD1 Costs2 Extending Requires novice graduated driver drivers to develop licensing safe driving skills − − − High requirements to via supervised include all novice practice drivers regardless of age Establishing a When reliably default speed limit enforced and − − Medium of 20 mph or designed to slow lower in every vehicles, can reduce business or vehicle operating residential district speeds in locations pedestrians are likely to be present Instituting Deters impaired immediate driving by swiftly administrative removing driving − − High license revocation privileges in the or suspension event of an (ALR/ALS)
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From page 17... ...
◾ Users' exposure to serious crashes ◾ Likelihood of serious crashes ◾ Severity of crashes when they occur ◾ Improvements to injury risk assessment, professional and community coordination, or crash diagnoses For example, in step 1, if a safety team identifies and prioritizes addressing pedestrian injury near schools, they might pursue establishing maximums in vehicle size (in terms of width, length, height, and weight) permitted in areas with high pedestrian activity given the disproportionate harm endured by some community members.
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From page 18... ...
expansion of the vehicle size-limiting zone based on anticipated development on the edge of downtown) ; yearly review to assess whether the policy is associated with reductions in serious and fatal pedestrian injury in the policy zone; coupling the vehicle size-limiting zone policy with speed safety camera installation in the zone toward spreading serious crash risk across reductions in vehicle size and vehicle operating speeds; and granting authority to the local municipality to institute and adjust the policy based upon local knowledge of anticipated and unanticipated events.
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From page 19... ...
• Making necessary policy adjustments to shore up policy performance requires local agencies and partners to reflect on results of the measured performance indicators and decide to update policy parameters (e.g., adjusting the boundaries of the policy zone, increasing enforcement of the policy, changing which heavy vehicle operators are permitted in the zone)
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