11/27/2012
Idaho safety partners collaborate on Strategic Highway Safety Plan
BOISE - Meeting Idaho’s goal of being the safest transportation system in the country requires strategy, leadership and collaboration.
The Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Highway Safety (OHS) will move closer to that goal when the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) emphasis groups and OHS program managers gather for the Thursday (Nov. 29) workshop. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Riverside Hotel, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd., Garden City.
More than 100 highway safety partners representing engineering, enforcement, education and emergency medical services are expected, including a representative from the Federal Highway Administration in Washington D.C.
“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 strategic plan 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 motor vehicles
- Vulnerable users (mature drivers, bike/pedestrian)
At the all-day workshop, safety advocates in small groups will attempt to identify strategies and find solutions toward eliminating traffic deaths and injuries.
Many crashes relate to drivers' choices 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.”
Last updated in 2009, the SHSP includes strategies to address 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 include current safety issues and solutions in the SHSP update.
Idaho’s SHSP planning process is nationally recognized and often is referred to by other states involved in planning safety initiatives.
Programs implemented by those 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.