Recent Uses of Road Safety Audits (RSAs) in Highway Safety Improvement Programs and Strategic Highway Safety Plans

On April 24, 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) proposed amendments to Part 924 of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). FHWA proposes two new elements linked to road safety audits (RSAs) under Section 924.9, which include “a process for conducting engineering studies (such as road safety audits) of hazardous locations, sections, and elements to develop highway safety improvement projects” [Federal Register: April 24, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 80)]. There are various implications of this new element. Namely, it is anticipated that more States will develop policies and procedures to update their HSIPs to include RSAs. This paper demonstrates how an RSA is a useful tool for developing Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) projects and/or used as a strategy in Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs); the paper highlights those States already using RSAs for these purposes.