TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD

OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

HSM PRESENTATION

HSM RELATED PROJECTS

SAFETY INITIATIVES

RELATED LINKS

What is the Highway Safety Manual?

“The purpose of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) is to provide practitioners with the best factual information and tools to facilitate roadway design and operational decisions based on explicit consideration on their safety consequences.  Currently, there are no such widely accepted tools available for agencies responsible for managing the safety of our roadways.  As a result, safety considerations often carry little weight in the project development process.  The HSM will be an effective resource that can be used to quantify and predict the safety performance of the variety of elements considered in road planning, design, maintenance, construction, and operation (NCHRP Synthesis 367, pg 11).”

The HSM features:

• Synthesis of validated highway research

• Procedures that are adapted and integrated to practice

• Analytical tools for predicting impact on road safety

For additional information please view the HSM Overview Presentation

Why is there a need for the Highway Safety Manual?

There is a significant need for improving the explicit role of highway safety in making decisions on roadway planning, design, maintenance, construction and operations. The states, and others responsible for the road system, do not currently have very useful quantitative tools for reflecting safety in their decisions. The result is a diminishing of the weight of safety considerations in these decisions. When difficult choices must be made, greater confidence is often taken in predictions of such factors as cost, operational impacts, and environmental impacts. Therefore, an effective resource is urgently needed which quantifies and predicts the safety performance of the variety of elements considered in road planning, design, maintenance, construction and operation.

When Will it be Made Available?

New Date:  The interim document of the Highway Safety Manual is anticipated to be available in summer of 2009. 

The research project that will lead to production of the First Edition of the HSM is NCHRP project #17-36.  The project has been divided into two phases.  Phase one will be completed in 2007.  Phase one has included the development of a prototype chapter and some examples for the HSM chapter that deals with activities associated with Screening a Roadway Network.  This chapter has been prepared in a style that can be readily understood and applied by safety professionals without the benefit of a strong background in statistics.  The work in Phase One has also included significant revisions to the organization of the chapters for the First Edition of the HSM.  In addition, work in Phase One has included a technical review of the predictive methodologies that were previously developed for two-lane rural highways.   

Work in Phase Two of the contract will include 1) the completion of the text for all of the remaining HSM chapters in a writing style that is similar to the prototype chapter 2) the resolution of technical inconsistencies among chapters (prepared under various research contracts) and 3) the preparation of a glossary of terms.  It is anticipated that an interim document containing these highway safety materials will be publishes in 2009.

What are the data needs for using the Highway Safety Manual?

A "Data Needs Guide" has been developed by the Implementation and User Liaison subcommittees.

Learn more about the Highway Safety Manual Task Force Work

Content Subcommittee
This subcommittee focused its attention on the topics to be included in the HSM, and led the review of chapters' contents. This subcommittee is preparing a draft of Chapter 1, the introductory chapter for the HSM. Click here for more information.

Implementation Subcommittee
This subcommittee works with research problem statements and monitors the work plan to make sure the development of the HSM is on schedule and meets the goals of the Task Force. Click here for more information.

Planning Subcommittee
This subcommittee plans the meetings of the Task Force with respect to venue, times, and agendas. Click here for more information.

Policy Subcommittee
The Policy subcommittee created two working groups that will lead the subcommittee efforts on several tasks including the development of a procedure for a review of documents produced by research contractors. Click here for more information.

Research Subcommittee
The vision of the Research Subcommittee is to drive positive changes in the quality of research conducted and incorporated in the Highway Safety Manual. Click here for more information. 

User Liaison Subcommittee
The User Liaison subcommittee is responsible for the development of a database of potential users of the HSM, preparation of a marketing plan and development and maintenance of the HSM web site. Click here for more information.

Future Directions Subcommittee

Information is not currently available.

Secretariat
The secretariat handles all Task Force correspondence and minutes, while also maintaining a database of Task Force members and friends, as well as maintaining a database of motions adopted by the Task Force.

How Can I Become Involved?
If you are interested in becoming an active participant in the development of the HSM, please complete a participation form and return it to Mike Dimaiuta.

If you have questions or wish to post materials on this site, please contact Ron Pfefer

Please note that the Highway Safety Manual Task Force has not reviewed or formally endorsed any of these presentation materials. While you should feel free to use any of these presentation materials as-is or incorporate them into your own presentations, please give proper credit whenever you do so.