Roadway and Lane Departures

Improve data systems for targeting locations with a high probability of roadway departure crashes by road type, geometric characteristics, vehicle type, and area type.

1. Identify critical information such as position prior to crash and position of point of impact to accurately identify roadway departure crashes and the actions that contributed to these crash types.
   (Participating organizations: Texas A&M Transportation Institute [TTI], Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT], Department of Public Safety [DPS], and law enforcement agencies)
2. Enhance the standard crash report form (CR-3) reporting process by including the identified critical information.
   (Participating organizations: TxDOT and DPS)
3. Provide training to peace officers about the additional information in the CR-3.
   (Participating organizations: TTI, TxDOT, DPS, and law enforcement agencies)
4. Identify a list of roadway elements by road type and area type needed in order to use the methodologies documented in the standard manuals such as the Texas Roadway Safety Design Handbook, the Highway Safety Manual, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool, and the Roadside Design Guide.
   (Participating organizations: TTI and TxDOT)
5. Prepare a guidebook and provide training on how to collect additional roadway characteristics that are not in the existing databases but are needed for using the methodologies presented in the standard manuals.
   (Participating organizations: TTI, TxDOT, and city and county agencies)
6. Prioritize the cities and counties and roadway types for identifying problematic areas (consider a pilot project).
   (Participating organizations: TTI and TxDOT)
7. Collect roadway characteristics needed for using the methodologies.
   (Participating organizations: TxDOT and city and county agencies)
8. Analyze data by using the advanced methods to identify priority locations by vehicle type.
   (Participating organizations: TTI and TxDOT)
9. Disseminate data analysis results.
   (Participating organizations: TTI and TxDOT)

See above for each step.

• Resistance to change the CR-3 reporting process.
• Personnel needed to collect required roadway characteristics data.
• Inconsistent results among various methodologies for prioritizing locations.
• Funds to collect additional variables.