System-wide safety improvements

This synthesis will be of interest to safety engineers, highway planners, and others concerned with the procedures used by states to plan and program safety improvements. Information is presented on current practice of states in using system-wide improvements to provide safety consistency. The primary purpose of system-wide safety improvements is to increase safety by improving roadway consistency - to minimize violations of driver expectancy and to avoid or reduce injury and damage that occur when a vehicle leaves the roadway. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes the system-wide and spot approaches to safety improvement, explains strategies and programs for system-wide improvements, and gives general guidelines for a program of improving roadway consistency through system-wide safety improvements.