Technology is changing how we move and there are many opportunities for improving safety. Safety planners who understand the capabilities of autonomous and connected vehicles technology that begin planning now, will achieve the maximum amount of safety benefits from these new technologies. Many questions need to be asked and considered in order to maximize safety benefits, as well as negate unfavorable side effects, these new technologies can bring. Inspired by a SlideShare my colleagues Chris Hedden, Dan Krechmer and Ron Basile created last year, The Top Five Things Planners Need to Know About Self-Driving Vehicles, I thought it would be interesting to talk about this topic from the transportation safety planners and State Highway Safety Office perspective. I hope you find it as a fun and interesting approach to engage conversations among safety professionals in asking some of the questions in this exciting field.

1. Self-Driving
Vehicles
The
TOPTOP5Things
Safety Planners and
Highway Safety Offices
Need to Know about

2. When did texting
become available
on cell phones?
It was 1992
(yes, really).
We’ll get to the Top 5 Things.
But first, a few questions
to ponder…

3. HUMANS = DISTRACTED DRIVING
Drinking
Speeding
Texting
Singing 80s
HAIR METAL
music...

4. 90%of crashes!
I’ll need to
call you back.
HUMAN ERROR is a contributing
factor of over

5. What if there’s a
NEW TECHNOLOGY
with huge potential to
IMPROVE ROADWAY SAFETY?

6. Have you heard the
about
SELF-DRIVING
VEHICLES?
Well get used to hearing about
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES and
CONNECTED VEHICLES (AV/CVs).

7. Are AV/CVs the
panacea for
ELIMINATING
TRAFFIC
CRASHES?
Probably not.
I could be
out of a job!
SAFETY
PLAN�ER

8. But INFRASTRUCTURE and BEHAVIORAL
SAFETY SPECIALISTS will need to
PLAN DIFFERENTLY
in the future
to mitigate
traffic crashes.

9. When will we have enough
self-driving vehicles on our
roadways to see REAL REDUCTIONS
IN TRAFFIC CRASHES?

10. IT DEPENDS…
on how we
structure and
implement safety
policies and programs,
and how soon we do it.

11. When should we identify how
AV/CVs will IMPACT ROADWAY SAFETY?
When should we DEVELOP POLICIES
AND PROGRAMS to address them?

13. ???
MOREquestions to address:
Who will teach drivers to understand and use AV/CV technology? How?
Should we plan and build roadways to maximize user safety? How?
How will we update behavioral programs to address the impact of AV/CVs?
How will our crash reporting and safety data change?
What are the policy implications of AV/CVs to the safety community?
With so many questions, what do we focus on first?

14. The
TOPTOP5Things
You Need to Know...

15. #1

16. The way drivers INTERACT
with vehicles will change.
HEL�O MICHAEL.
Hi car!

17. The MINDSETfor
interacting with
self-driving
vehicles will
CHANGE

18. Young Old In-Between
Drivers training won’t go away; we’ll have
to BROADEN who we educate, how we do
it, and who provides it.

19. STATES must be
ready to address
safety policy implications…
there’s no avoiding it.

20. UNDERSTANDING
and PLANNING
for safety and
training implications
will allow for the SAFE INTEGRATION of
AV/CV vehicles among all drivers on
your roadways.

21. The AC/CV safety
benefits DON’T
COME AUTOMATICALLY.
If we don’t GUIDE
roadway users,
we can turn those
benefits on their head.
SAFETY BENEFITS
?
? ?

22. 2#

23. We know that walkers,
bikers, and drivers
deserve the SAFEST
SYSTEM POSSIBLE.
In fact, engineers
and planners focus
on this all the time.

24. But the
times, they
are
A-CHANGIN’!

25. TECHNOLOGY NOW HELPS:
Staying in lanes.
Staying on the roadway.
Avoiding collision.
“Seeing” what’s in blind spots.

26. Consider a NEW NETWORK FOOTPRINT,
with a typical vehicle that is unlikely
to leave the roadway.
EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY to improve
communication across modes
and design SMART STREETS that lower
conflict by increasing traveler information.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE CAN:

27. 20 YEARS from now our vehicles, communications,
and technology will be different...
HOW CAN YOUR
INFRASTRUCTURE AND
SAFETY INVESTMENT
CHANGE ALONG THE WAY?

28. 3#

29. Humans
sometimes
make
POOR
DECISIONS.

30. Poor decisions
on the road
can cause
INJURY OR
DEATH.
POOR
DECISIONS

31. In many states,
1
3
of roadway
fatalities involve
IMPAIRED
DRIVERS.

32. But even people with a HISTORY
of impaired driving need to be
MOBILE MEMBERS
OF SOCIETY.

33. With AV/CV TECHNOLOGY, safety and
criminal justice officials can KEEP
HIGH-RISK DRIVERS MOBILE.
For example: requiring rental of a vehicle that senses
impaired driving. Getting alerts from the vehicle that the
driver is on the roadway.

34. Safety planners who
UNDERSTAND THE
CAPABILITIES OF
AV/CV AND V2I
technology can begin
planning now to IMPROVE
HIGHWAY SAFETY IN
THE FUTURE.

35. 4#

36. Today’s crash
reports tell us a
lot about WHERE
AND WHEN the
crash occurred.

37. Data in the world of AV/CVs will tell us
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE CRASH:
Driver behavior.
Road conditions.
Vehicles Interaction
with Roadway.
Other vehicle
behaviors.

38. AV/CVS CAN PROVIDE…
A revolutionary REAL-TIME DATA
SOURCE to safety planners analysis of
the crash.
Accurate, real-time information to
FIRST RESPONDERS, so the most
appropriate care responds to the crash.
A shift to focusing on what occurred
before and during the crash, to
develop NEW COUNTERMEASURES.
A continuous SAFETY FEEDBACK
LOOP to help address and
correct poor driving habits.
PARENTAL MONITORING of teen
driving habits.
Real-time NOTIFICATION TO
CARS AND DRIVERS of hazardous
road conditions.

39. But none of this will happen unless the
INFRASTRUCTURE
AND PLANNING
ARE IN PLACE.

40. We must know
WHAT DATA ARE
CAPTURED by AV/CV and V2I and
understand how to INCORPORATE
THEM INTO SAFETY PLANNING
on our roadways.

41. 5#

42. WHAT ARE WE
WAITING FOR!?
Here are a few
conversation starters...

43. What are the
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
of AV/CVs to the
safety community?
RULES?

44. We’ve talked about
a few already –
NEW TRAINING
requirements for all drivers,
CHANGING ROADWAY DESIGN standards
and policies, and NEW DRIVING
SANCTIONS for impaired drivers.
CHANGES
next exit

45. What we haven’t’ talked about is how law
enforcement is going to report these
crashes which involve AV/CVs. Do the
crash causation factors change?
WHO IS AT FAULT –
THE VEHICLE OR
THE FRONT SEAT
PASSENGER?
He did it.

46. What does the
safety planning
community want
to see CHANGE on the
CRASH REPORT FORM?

47. Will crashes in an AV/CV
go into the DRIVERS
HISTORY file if the
VEHICLE IS AT FAULT
and the driver
wasn’t driving?
Driver’s Record
Car’s Record

48. Could this new technology OPEN UP
DRIVING TO INDIVIDUALS WHO
CAN’T DRIVE NOW? What would
that mean for driver licensing?

49. STARE THIS DOWN!
RISE TO THE CHALLENGE!
Because there’s no question of whether we’ll
see these vehicles on our roadways. It’s only a
matter of WHEN.
SAFETY COMMUNITY:

50. Ready to continue
the conversation?
Contact RYAN KLITZSCH at:
RKLITZSCH@CAMSYS.COM
or
317.260.7811