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Archives of "What's New At UMassSAFE" CMV Crash Location Mapping Road Safety Audits to Address Lane Departure Crashes as Part of Strategic Highway Safety Plan Traffic Safety Toolbox to Provide Resources for Practitioners The
Massachusetts Highway Safety Toolbox will enable practitioners,
including State Agencies such as the Executive Office of Transportation,
as well as local cities and towns, to effectively review engineering,
education and enforcement countermeasures to prevent and/or alleviate
identified crash problems or change undesired motorists and/or
pedestrian behaviors. It will include a comprehensive compilation of
national and Massachusetts highway safety crash data, issue
descriptions, approximate costs and potential highway safety improvement
strategies. UMassSafe Initiates Police Outreach Survey on Crash Reporting UMassSafe is
working with and for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety
and Security's (EOPSS) Highway Safety Division (HSD) and the Executive
Office of Transportation's (EOT) Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) to
improve the way crash data are collected and used in Massachusetts. The
mission is to streamline crash data collection and improve the
timeliness, accuracy, completeness of police-collected crash data. This
survey was designed to determine the challenges associated with current
crash report data-collection procedures and to identify potential
opportunities to modifying this system. The information gathered will be
used to guide statewide improvements in the crash data collection and
submission process. UMassSafe will provide a summary of the survey
results to the RMV and HSD as well as invite respondents to a meeting to
discuss the findings. UMassSafe Called On by State Agencies for Crash Data Quality Projects UMassSafe is taking a lead role on crash data quality work in Massachusetts. Along with continued participation on the Massachusetts Traffic Records Coordinating Committee (TRCC), two new projects are now underway. "Improving Crash Data Quality in Massachusetts", funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation's Cooperative Research Program, will focus on an audit process to identify and detail data quality issues in the Massachusetts Crash Data system. Subsequently, as part of this project, a data quality improvement plan will be developed to guide the Commonwealth's efforts on improving crash data. Additionally, UMassSafe will undertake a police training project, funded by the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau through the use of 408 funds, that will identify areas for improvement in terms of police collection of data. A web-based police training module, designed to address the problems identified, will be designed and pilot-tested. For more information on the crash data quality projects, click here.
UMassSafe
collaborates with CEE and ITE to Pilot Transportation Engineering
Mentoring Program UMassSafe, in conjunction with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the student chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), has developed the Transportation Engineering Applied Academics Mentoring (TEAAM) program. The 2006-2007 academic year will serve as the pilot year for this program which has four components: Graduate Mentoring, Undergraduate Mentoring, Career/Skills Development Seminars, and Drop-In Hours. The TEAAM program is aimed at helping students identify how to meet their academic requirements while simultaneously using the resources available to them to understand career options and develop skills that will make them strong candidates for employment in transportation engineering. The TEAAM program received a grant from the UMass Graduate School for its implementation. For more information on the TEAAM program, click here. Dr. Michael Knodler is New UMassSafe Director
Former UMassSAFE Director, Dr. John Collura, will undoubteldy remain active with UMassSAFE activities following his recent appointment as Director of the University of Massachusetts Transportation Center. UMassSAFE Presents Teen Driver Data and Policy Information at Massachusetts State House
Enforcement, engineers and researchers team up for CMV crash location analysis and enforcement
Read the full CMV Crash Location Analysis Report MassSAFE becomes UMassSAFE to highlight its affiliation with the University of Massachusetts MassSAFE has added a U to its name as it becomes the University of Massachusetts Traffic Safety Research Program (UMassSAFE). The new name is a way for UMassSAFE to highlight its affiliation with the University of Massachusetts. The people haven't changed and neither does the kind of work UMassSAFE does. As part of the University of Massachusetts, UMassSAFE has access to a wide variety of resources from a diverse set of disciplines. UMassSAFE examines teen drivers in Massachusetts
Following a comprehensive evaluation of vehicle crash data, University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have recommended revisions to the state’s graduated licensing policy to improve safety for young drivers. Vehicle crashes cost Massachusetts an estimated $6.9 billion in 2004 and teens are overrepresented in those crashes, according to a new UMass Amherst study. The crash rate of 16-year-old drivers involved in crashes is two times higher than for 17-year-olds. A related policy paper on young driver safety includes an overview of the state’s graduated licensing policy, identifying areas for improvement. Recommended changes include increasing the number of hours of supervised driving required, expanding restricted nighttime driving, expanding the passenger restriction, and requiring a road test at age 18 prior to full licensure. The Legislature is currently considering changes to state law for teenage drivers.
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The
Massachusetts Commercial Motor Vehicle Crash Map is an
interactive tool that allows users to identify trends and
pinpoint crash information involving commercial motor vehicles (CMV)
across the state. A colored marker representing each CMV crash
can be clicked to display detailed information on the crash, the
vehicle, and the quality of the data for that particular case.
This mapping tool will enable police officers to pinpoint
locations with a high incidence of CMV crashes so they will be
able to better target law enforcement efforts in these areas. In
addition, it provides information concerning crash report
timeliness, which allows the Massachusetts State Police
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section (MSP CVES) to identify
police departments with
inconsistent report
submittal timeliness and then guide or train departments to
properly complete the truck and bus section of the crash
report. This will grant MSP the ability to improve CMV crash
data quality while targeting high-incidence CMV crash locations. 
UMassSafe
has received funding from the Massachusetts Highway Department
to provide assistance on Road Safety Audits being conducted at
20 Massachusetts locations in an effort to reduce lane departure
crashes. One of the strategies identified under the
Massachusetts Strategic Highway Safety Plan is to work at the
local and regional levels to develop and implement
location-specific strategies to mitigate safety deficiencies
related to lane departure crashes. These Road Safety Audits
bring together representatives from federal, state, and local
government, as well as residents and other interested parties to
discuss the problem location and identify potential
countermeasures. 
Dr.
Michael Knodler, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, assumed the role of UMassSAFE director,
effective June 16, 2006. While this is a new role for Dr.
Knodler, he has been actively involved with UMassSAFE since its
inception, as a Research Fellow and most recently as the Principal
Investigator on several projects. Dr. Knodler's areas of
interest include transportation safety, traffic operations, and
human factors research. In addition to his research interests,
Dr. Knodler has taught classes in highway design,
traffic operations, advanced concepts in traffic safety, and
transportation engineering.
©
2006