The safe system approach is accepted by FHWA as an effective way to eliminate fatal and serious injuries for all road users. This method of addressing safety focuses on human mistakes/vulnerability and emphasizes shared responsibility, redundancy in safe design, and proactive safety. A link to the Safe System Approach on the FHWA website is provided in

Appendix F, Section 3 – External References (Reference 8).

Texas’ SHSP aims to reduce traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries and is structured around Emphasis Areas (EAs). The EAs direct resources to where they can most effectively and efficiently improve road safety. A link to the SHSP website is provided in

Appendix F, Section 3 – External References (Reference 1)

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As described by the FHWA, HSIP is a core federal aid program that aims to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and injuries on all public roads, including on-system roads, off-system roads, and roads on tribal land. The HSIP involves a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads with a focus on safety performance. HSIPfunded projects either address historical crashes or focus on high-exposure roadway features (systemic safety). HSIP-funded projects are also evaluated for costeffectiveness. The benefit-cost (B/C) analysis uses the Safety Improvement Index (SII) formula. The SII is the ratio of the annual savings in preventable crash costs to the cost of constructing the proposed improvement. A sample SII calculator is provided in

Appendix F, Section 1 – SII Calculators

. A link to TxDOT’s Highway Safety Engineering Website (including the SII calculator spreadsheet) can be found in

Appendix F, Section 3 – External References (Reference 6).

The TxDOT SSWP focuses on rural two-lane, two-way highways that are less than 24 feet in paved surface width and have an ADT of at least 400 vehicles per day (vpd). This program involves the widening of on-system narrow roads, along with adding edgeline and centerline rumble strips to improve safety. Projects are evaluated and selected using total safety factor weights. A link to TxDOT’s Highway Safety Engineering Website (including information about SSWP) can be found in

Appendix F, Section 3 – External References (Reference 6)

TxDOT employs education and outreach methods to promote safe driving, bicycling, and pedestrian activities. TxDOT has several trafficsafety focused policies and programs, some of which are described below.

Texas legislators have enacted traffic laws on the following subjects to enforce public safety:

DriveSafeTexas.org offers a mobile-friendly platform and an extensive library of videos on the following safe-driving topics:

This program emphasizes being considerate of all modes of transportation beyond passenger vehicles, including large trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, and people in work zones. This program covers the following:

TxDOT has the following public involvement campaigns to encourage responsible driving:

Texas has also created the public involvement campaign #EndTheStreak to bring awareness to traffic-related fatalities on Texas roads and to encourage responsible driving. Print materials, photos, videos, and testimonials about this campaign are available on TxDOT’s website.

The Road to Zero initiative was developed by TxDOT to reduce the number of deaths on Texas roadways by half by the year 2035 and to zero by the year 2050. This goal places emphasis on the SHSP, bridge safety systems, design manual updates with safety-driven improvements, and other initiatives that influence safety.

The purpose of this manual is to establish program and project management procedures for subgrants and contracts in support of the 5-5 2024 | Traffic and Safety Analysis Procedures Manual Texas Behavioral Traffic Safety Program. The mission of this program is to implement traffic safety education and enforcement strategies to reduce traffic fatalities in Texas by half by the year 2035 and to zero by 2050.