ARTBA calls for improved road safety

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is calling for a fundamental shift in how the US approaches road safety. ARTBA is emphasising the need to design and build a transportation network that better compensates for error so that drivers, passengers, workers and other road users do not pay for behavioural mistakes with their lives. The association submitted written testimony to a House Highway & Transit Subcommittee hearing, “Every Life Counts: Improving Safety of our Nation’s R
April 17, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The 920 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is calling for a fundamental shift in how the US approaches road safety. ARTBA is emphasising the need to design and build a transportation network that better compensates for error so that drivers, passengers, workers and other road users do not pay for behavioural mistakes with their lives.  


The association submitted written testimony to a House Highway & Transit Subcommittee hearing, “Every Life Counts: Improving Safety of our Nation’s Roadways.”

Rather than the usual federal focus on reducing the number of crashes by improving the behaviour of drivers, ARTBA said a new paradigm is needed on two parallel tracks.

This would focus on reducing the severity of injuries as opposed to reducing the number of crashes. The policy should anticipate user errors and emphasises design, construction and maintenance of a system that will be forgiving of errant behaviour.

“We have the technology and ‘know how’ to build our roadway system to anticipate user error,” ARTBA’s testimony said. “It can be designed, constructed, equipped, and operated to forgive the errant user and protect the innocent victim.”

More than 37,000 people were killed in 2017 US traffic crashes, including roadway workers, cyclists, and pedestrians, according to the most recently available data. Work zone fatalities increased to 799 in 2017 from 586 in 2010.

The association focused its remarks specifically on highway work zone safety. It reminded Congress that through federal rulemaking after the 2005 SAFETEA-LU surface transportation law and further provisions in both the 2012 MAP-21 and 2015 FAST Act laws, lawmakers and previous administrations have expressed the intent to use increased positive separation between workers and motorists on construction projects.

“The law has not been fully implemented and positive separation is still not used as regularly as Congress intended,” ARTBA said. “New products and technologies are available that make the practice more practical and cost-effective.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IAM and Brake comment on increased UK road crashes
    September 24, 2015
    Both the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and road safety charity Brake have expressed serious concern over official figures showing increased road deaths in the UK. The Department of Transport’s Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2014 Annual Report says there were 1,775 reported road deaths in 2014, an increase of 4% compared with 2013. The IAM has called for a raft of measures to reverse the disappointing increase in numbers of people killed and injured on UK roads. It added the number of people
    Read More
  • Roll ‘em: 3M’s safety road show now touring the US and Canada
    May 18, 2018
    A team from 3M’s Transportation Safety Division is working its way through a 50-city North American roadshow highlighting the company’s technology and innovation. The safety tour started in San Antonio at the end of January when the custom designed 18-wheel truck including a 16m-long trailer arrived in the Texas city. The last stop will be Saskatoon, Canada, in early October. “Our tour will present innovative roadway and vehicle solutions to many of the problems that drivers face,” said John Riccardi, vic
    Read More
  • Lindsay and Iteris partner to create smart work zones on US roads
    April 16, 2019
    Lindsay, a manufacturer of infrastructure equipment, and Iteris, a manufacturer of applied informatics for transportation, will together create smart work zones for US roadways. The companies said that their partnership supports the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Smarter Work Zone campaign to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety in work zones using intelligent transportation systems. There were 799 workzone-related fatalities in the US in 2017 – up 4.5% from their previous three-year
    Read More
  • IRF Releases Guidelines on Safety in Road Work Zones
    June 15, 2018
    Work zones present an increased risk for workers who build, repair, and maintain roads, bridges, and tunnels, as well as for a variety of road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, who are confronted with less than ideal safety conditions in these work zones. Global statistics on work zone-related injuries are not available, however the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reported 25,485 of work zone crashes involving at least one injured party in 2015, of which 642 resulted in
    Read More

Highlighted Content