“Houston, the HSM Has Landed . . .”

Keith J. Harrison, PE Safety & Design Engineer

HSM

A Decade of Effort

• Millions of dollars invested• Thousands of hours expended• A clear and ambitious Vision• Steady progress;Occasional setbacks• A Historical First

Now Arriving at a Crater Near You

OpportunitiesAnd

Challenges

Opportunity“What gets measured gets done”

Safety

CostsEnvironment

Right-of-Way

Operations

OpportunityEvaluate Risks Among Design Choices

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/geometric/mitigationstrategies/

OpportunityFacilitate Safety Sensitive Solutions

Network

Screening

Diagnosis

Countermeasure

Selection

Economic

Appraisal

Prioritization of

Improvement Projects

4 5 6 7 8 9

Safety

Effectiveness

Evaluation

OpportunityHelp Achieve More “Sustainable” Safety

Challenges Lie Ahead

• “[Endorsement/Acceptance by the Highway Safety Community] is one of the potentially biggest issues that will need to be considered if the HSM is to achieve its intended objective..”

NCHRP Web Document 62Development of a Highway Safety Manual

March 2004

HSM

Challenge: My Safety Manual is Green

“There is risk in all highway transportation.”HSM, p. xxviii

• Not a legal standard of care• Does not supersede other policies• “May” be protected under 23 USC 409• Not (yet)* incorporated into 23 CFR 625

Challenge: TORT is a Four Letter Word!

• The new techniques and knowledge in the HSM reflect the evolution in safety analysis from descriptive methods to quantitative, predictive analyses.

• (What’s wrong with continuing to rely solely on historical data as a gauge of future performance?)

Challenge: If It’s Good Enough for CR . . .

Brand “A”

Brand “Z”

• This won’t replace your existing tools

• Choose the right tool for the job

• Be careful when combining tools

• Avoid serious injury >>> RTFM

For the designer who has everything . . .The Highway Safety Multi-function tool

Challenge: This Will Fix Everything

Challenge: Liars Figure and . . .

Misapplication or misinterpretation of HSM methods (unintentional or otherwise) can have far-reaching implications• Out of context?• Out of bounds?• Out of your mind?

“The HSM is not intended to be a substitute for the exercise of sound engineering judgment.”

Challenge: 6 + 5 = 13

So, What Is FHWA Doing to Help?

• Raise Awareness– Articles, Newsletters, Brochures– Briefings (incl non-traditional audiences)

• Promote Understanding– Distance learning– Instructor-led training

• Provide Tools– Computational aides– Online resources

Distance Learning

Instructor-Led Training

Computational Aids

• HCM has many sophisticated software apps

• What about HSM?– Safety Analyst– IHSDM– Spreadsheet

Safety Analyst

www.ihsdm.org

Interactive Highway Safety Design Model

Simple Spreadsheet

Some URLs of Wisdom for the HSM

• www.highwaysafetymanual.org• www.cmfclearinghouse.org• safety.fhwa.dot.gov• www.tfhrc.gov• www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov• www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter

A Vision for the Future(?)Brilliant feat of engineering genius !!! . . . designing this road using the HSM

Now, if I could just figure out how to STOP this thing!

Thank You!