Final Reports
The following are completed CSCRS funded research projects.
R1: Structures of Stakeholder Relationships in Making Road Safety Decisions
Principal Investigator – Seth LaJeunesse, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Findings from this three-phase study suggest that Vision Zero and safe systems strategies can diffuse across U.S. cities in accelerated fashion. Further, though it will require more time before cities document significant improvements in road user safety, the organizational network analysis carried out in Phase III of this R1 project holds promise as an exploratory technique to employ toward identifying adaptive, resilient cross-sector partnerships. View full report.
R2: An enhanced systemic approach to safety
Principal Investigator – Offer Grembek, University of California, Berkeley
This report presents an enhanced systemic approach which consists of targeting blanket improvements at sites across a road network based on specific roadway
features that are associated with a particular crash type. View full report.
R3: Implementing Safe Systems in the United States: Guiding Principles and Lessons from International Practice
Principal Investigator – Eric Dumbaugh, Florida Atlantic University
This report examines the state-of-the-practice in Safe Systems. It is divided into two sections. The first examines the concept of Safe Systems, focusing on our emerging understanding of crash causation, as well as how this understanding may be applied to integrate safety considerations into transportation practice in the United States. The second presents a review of the practices of the four countries with the most established Safe Systems programs—Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand—and details how each has structured their approach to road safety around Safe Systems principles. View full report.
R4: Completing the Picture of Traffic Injuries: Understanding Data Needs and Opportunities for Road Safety
Principal Investigator – Chris Cherry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
This study introduced a new approach to evaluate road safety that focuses on the home address of individuals (i.e., home-based approach) who were directly involved in traffic crashes instead of the location of the crashes (location-based approach). While LBA explores the geographical distribution of traffic crashes by focusing on the location of traffic crashes, HBA considers the socioeconomics associated with the location of the person involved in the crash. This approach could be used to explore the road safety disparities by considering the factors surrounding home address of the crash victims. View full report.
R5: Traffic Safety Practice in U.S. Cities: Survey and Focus Group Results
Principal Investigator – Eric Dumbaugh, Florida Atlantic University
This study seeks to understand the state-of-the-practice for addressing safety in U.S. cities. It consists of a survey of the 150 largest cities in the U.S., by population size, as well as a focus group of individuals from cities recognized at being the forefront of addressing safety. The research finds that cities view themselves as placing a higher priority on safety, and particularly the safety of vulnerable users such as pedestrians and bicyclists, than do state departments of transportation, which are viewed as being principally concerned with automobile mobility. More cities list safety as a policy goal over the mobility or congestion relief, though safety is often linked to broader quality-of-life concerns, such as supporting walking and cycling. View full report.
R6: Connected and Automated Vehicles and Safety of Vulnerable Road Users: A Systems Approach
Principal Investigator – Noreen McDonald, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies can dramatically improve safety by reducing human errors, which contribute substantially (an estimated 94 percent) to roadway crashes. CAVs can eventually operate effectively on roadways without experiencing decreased performance due to distraction or fatigue. However, technological advances will not uniformly decrease crash risks. Some environments, crash types, and user groups will continue to experience elevated risks, particularly vulnerable road users such as pedestrians. This project addresses these critical safety issues. View full report.
R14: Creating a CSCRS clearinghouse for bicyclist and pedestrian safety-related data, Phase I: inventory & framework
Principal Investigator – Krista Nordback, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
The National Pedestrian and Bicycle Data Clearinghouse has been developed to improve data for pedestrian and bicycle analyses in the United States….read more
R14 Research Brief
R33: US Regional Vision Zero Implementation
Principal Investigator – Kelly Evenson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
This project aimed to assess how Vision Zero (VZ) is being implemented nationwide at a regional level, with or without a plan, and identify strengths and weaknesses of differing approaches to safety programming. We also need a better understanding of how best to support communities in their Vision Zero efforts. Using a mixed-method design, we describe municipal-level U.S. Vision Zero initiatives using quantitative data and provide insight from both municipal- and MPO-level initiatives using in-depth interviews. View full report.
