Bev Kellner has a daunting task: teaching parents how to properly buckle up their children in a child safety seat. Sounds easy enough, but considering that most of the more than 19,000 kids in car seats she’s checked over the last 14 years have been buckled improperly or not at all, she won’t be out […]
safety
Providing Positive Protection for Work Zones
TTI conducted a project to develop more comprehensive guidelines for the Texas Department of Transportation’s use in assessing the need for positive protection in work zones.
Broader Shoulders Support Safer Roadways
Texas highways are safer now thanks to scores of projects completed in the last few years to add shoulders and width on more than 1,000 miles of rural, two-lane highways, according to an analysis by TTI.
Safety Experts Focus on Motorcycle Fatalities
An entire session of the annual Traffic Safety Conference was dedicated to motorcycle safety this year in addition to related remarks made during the conference’s opening session.
The I-35 Expansion Project
The Texas Department of Transportation created MY 35, a citizen-driven effort to expand a 96-mile stretch from Hillsboro to Salado of I-35, and engaged TTI to provide independent technical support for the effort.
Testing Is Key to Roadside Safety
For the last four decades, TTI and TxDOT have ensured that wet-weather travel on the state’s 80,000 miles of roadways is safe — thanks to evaluating highly sophisticated and seldom-seen pieces of machinery.
Adding Highway Shoulders, Width, Reduce Crash Numbers and Save Lives
AUSTIN — Texas highways are safer now thanks to hundreds of projects completed in the last few years to add shoulders, width on more than 1,000 miles of rural, two-lane highways. An analysis of 189 Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) road projects around the state shows that wider pavements make highways safer and result in […]
Looking into the Retroreflective Glass
As the paint–glass bead mixture used in roadway markings for light retroreflection is applied to the road, degrades over time, and is reapplied, what effect does it have on the people handling it and on our environment?
Freight Shuttle System Promises the Next Historic Milestone in Freight Movement
Picture a system in which transporters powered by electric motors carry trailers from trucks and containers from ships on an elevated track above existing highway right-of-way, safely separated from passenger traffic.
Energy Developments and Our Roadways: Impacts and Strategies
In recent years, there has been a boom of energy-related activities in Texas, but many short- and long-term impacts on the state’s right-of-way and infrastructure are not properly documented.
Looking Out for Pedestrians
Two recent research studies on pedestrian crossings have aimed at making crosswalks safer and more efficient. Both studies are influencing national standards and making conditions better for pedestrians.
Alcohol Studies Center Transfers to TTI
Alcohol related statistics are staggering and have led Maury Dennis, with the Center for Alcohol and Drug Education Studies, to dedicate his career to educating the public about problems caused by alcohol and drug abuse.
TTI Focuses on Improving Motorcycle Safety
Motorcycle fatalities in Texas declined in 2009, halting an 11-year trend of steady increases, but there is no complacency among state officials. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Traffic Safety Program funded several projects to keep the momentum going and continue statewide efforts to improve motorcycle safety. Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) Research Scientist Patricia […]
Center for Transportation Safety Celebrates 10 Years of Helping to Save Lives
Since opening in 2001, Center for Transportation Safety staff have impacted traffic safety in Texas with research, public outreach and data analysis.
Developing Crew Resource Management Training
To lessen the number and severity of train incidents, the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Rail Research Program is developing course materials for the Long Island Rail Road.
Getting It Write — New Crash-Reporting Form for Texas Law Enforcement
If you want safer roads, you have to have accurate and effective crash reporting.
TTI Study Underscores Safety Benefits of Red-Light Cameras
Public policy and public opinion don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but when it comes to red-light cameras, two new studies suggest they do. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), most drivers like the cameras. And according to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), they work. The TTI study, although limited to Texas, […]
Texas’ Click It or Ticket Campaign Turns 10
Texas’ Click It or Ticket (CIOT) campaign achieved a significant milestone this year — 10 years of success. Since the campaign began, safety-belt use in Texas has reached record levels.
Enlightening Sign Time: TTI Helps Spread the Word about New National Retroreflectivity Standards
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) publishes the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) establishing national standards for all traffic signs. All agencies that maintain public roadways use the MUTCD to ensure signs and markings are uniform in their design and placement. Until recently, the MUTCD did not address when a traffic sign should be […]
Virtual survey crew ahead: Radiusmeter takes guesswork out of signs, markings for horizontal curves
Consistency is an important principle in roadway safety. It ensures that roadways conform to recommended guidelines and promote safety to drivers. The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has developed the Radiusmeter to help improve consistency on horizontal curves. “A large percentage of crashes occur on horizontal curves on two-lane highways,” says Paul Carlson, head of TTI‘s […]