Partners collaborate on Strategic Highway Safety Plan

Meeting Idaho’s goal of being the safest transportation system in the country requires strategy, leadership and collaboration.
 
ITD’s Office of Highway Safety (OHS) moved closer to that goal Thursday when it organized a Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) workshop for partners from throughout Idaho.

“We’re asking emphasis groups to generate fresh thinking and creative strategies in support of ‘Toward Zero Deaths, Every Life Counts’ – the foundational concept upon which the SHSP is built,” said Highway Safety Manager Brent Jennings. “The strategies within the SHSP are in line with ITD’s goals for improving safety, mobility and economic opportunity.”
 
The OHS has identified 11 safety emphasis areas based on crash data and associated economic costs:

  • Aggressive driving
  • Distracted driving
  • Safety restraints
  • Impaired driving
  • Intersection crashes
  • Youthful drivers
  • Lane-departure crashes
  • Emergency response
  • Motorcycles
  • Commercial vehicles
  • Vulnerable users (mature drivers, bicycle riders, pedestrians … )

Safety advocates in those small groups worked Thursday at the all-day workshop to identify strategies and discover solutions that will help eliminate traffic deaths and injuries. Their input will help ITD revise its Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
 
Many crashes relate back to the choices drivers make, and to what Jennings calls the “DIA principle” – driving Distracted, Impaired or Aggressively.

“The charge before us is to implement strategies that help Idaho’s citizens arrive safely at their destination,” Jennings said. “Everyone has a role to play in traffic safety, and everyone can make a positive difference. Our safety partners help lead the way.”

The guiding principles of Thursday's discussion include:

  • Data-driven decisions - Return on investment is maximized by thoroughly studying all pertinent data, including best practices garnered from others to make the best investment decisions possible.
  • Culture Change - Cultural change is promoted to emphasize that it is socially unacceptable for Idahoans to make the choice to drive distracted, impaired or aggressively. The idea that traffic deaths are "just part of life" in Idaho is a misperception.
  • Commitment – Stay the course! Commitment is needed by our most critical highway safety partner, the driver, to maximize efforts to save lives and keep families whole.
  • Partnerships – Cross-cutting highway safety partnerships are necessary and critical for success. These partnerships multiply the message and commitment.
  • Evaluation – Systematic review of progress is necessary to gauge the return on investment. Self- reflection is the catalyst that allows a better future.

Last updated in 2009, the SHSP includes strategies to address driver behaviors, infrastructure improvements and enforcement countermeasures to eliminate crashes, traffic deaths, serious injuries and the economic losses associated with preventable traffic crashes.

The goal is to reflect current safety issues and solutions in producing the SHSP update.
 
Idaho’s SHSP planning process has received national recognition, and often is considered a model by other states planning safety initiatives.

Programs implemented by the focus groups include “Click It, Don’t Risk It!” to improve seatbelt use, “Put It Down” to counter distracted driving and Idahoteendriving.org to address teen driving behaviors.

Details of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan workshop will follow next week.

Published 11-30-2012