Putting the pieces together: Washington State's safety management system helps communities to reduce crash rates and save lives

Public Roads, March-April, 2003 by Dan Sunde

The SBI, on the other hand, converts the reduction in property damage to an equivalent life saved, rather than converting the reduction of deaths and injuries to dollars. Thus, the SBI is the benefit-cost ratio estimated in terms of lives saved per dollar spent. Projects resulting in the greatest number of lives saved rank highest in the SBI and should be selected for implementation.

"The SBI lets decisionmakers focus on programs that save lives and reduce injuries," says Sorensen. "It eliminates the dilemma of confronting the question, 'How can you place a value on human life?'"

Once the necessary benefit-cost analyses are performed, the local agencies move on to the sixth step--implementation of the selected safety projects based on the SBI results. The projects can be small in scope and focus on improving a specific intersection or a particular roadway, or they can be much broader and cover an entire transportation network--programs such as speed enforcement, driver safety education, and emergency response routing.

Performance monitoring of the implemented projects is the seventh step. One key reason for including this step is that local agencies need to evaluate whether programs are meeting their goals, whether assumptions used in selecting projects and countermeasures are correct, and whether resources are being allocated effectively.

To monitor project performance, the data collection and analysis tools provided in the LASMS manual will help agencies develop comparison reports at the project and programmatic levels. The tools enable agencies to compare the performance of each project and program against the safety conditions that existed prior to its implementation.

Sorensen says, "If a program does not meet expectations or produce the desired results, agencies immediately should reevaluate the program and implement any necessary corrective actions."

The final step in the process is for agency officials to develop an annual report or series of reports to update decisionmakers on the effectiveness of the SMS system and whether safety goals are being achieved. The annual safety report helps improve a community's decisionmaking capabilities by presenting areas where policies need to be changed, safety has to be emphasized, assumptions need to be modified, and funding has to be increased or shifted.

Flexible and Fitting

Like Vancouver, many communities may benefit by implementing WSDOT's local safety system. "We decided to try the LASMS because it emphasizes flexibility," says Manix. "Prior to implementing the LASMS, we did not have a formal approach to identify and address common safety problems. Each department was working individually. With the LASMS, we have the framework and tools necessary for a formal process tailored to meet Vancouver's needs."

Manix admits that in the short-run, implementing the LASMS is a lot of hard work. However, he believes that the economic and social benefits of reducing the number and severity of vehicle crashes will pay off in the long term.