Pedestrians and Cyclists: Better Information to States and Enhanced Performance Management Could Help DOT Improve Safety
Over 7,000 pedestrians and cyclists died in crashes with motor vehicles in the U.S. in 2019.
Reducing crash risk can involve changing behaviors. Some risks are well understood, like the danger of high driving speeds. Less is known about how other behaviors, like pedestrian distraction, affect crash risk.
States can take on projects like media campaigns to encourage safer behavior among drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. The Department of Transportation offers information on project options, but few are demonstrated to be effective. We recommended DOT analyze states' projects and share results to improve project effectiveness.
What GAO Found
The behavior of drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists—including driving speed, impairment due to alcohol or drug use, and distracted driving—affect pedestrian and cyclist safety. Some aspects of these road users' behaviors are well understood. For example, higher driving speeds are linked to increased crash risk and severity. In 2019, over 80 percent of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occurred where speed limits were 35 miles per hour or higher, according to GAO's analysis of Department of Transportation (DOT) data. Other aspects of road users' behaviors are less understood. For example, there is little research on how pedestrian and cyclist impairment affects crash risk, in part because impairment research has focused on drivers. DOT has several efforts under way to improve knowledge of these behavioral aspects of highway safety.
DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides grants and other support to help states implement projects, or countermeasures, to encourage safer behaviors. While NHTSA's Countermeasures That Work guide has useful information on a range of pedestrian and cyclist safety countermeasures, only 3 of 26 countermeasures were demonstrated to be effective (see figure). NHTSA has worked to advance research and monitor efforts to improve safety on a state-by-state basis, but has not analyzed information on states' use of countermeasures more broadly, such as by evaluating available information to identify national trends. Taking this step and sharing the results with states could help NHTSA and states identify promising efforts for study and advance knowledge of countermeasures' effectiveness.
Countermeasures Demonstrated to Be Effective in Improving Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Guide
DOT has not fully incorporated performance management practices into its pedestrian and cyclist safety efforts. These practices call for agencies to define goals and measure performance. DOT has established an overall departmental goal and an associated performance measure for pedestrian and cyclist safety. However, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) within DOT and NHTSA have not established performance measures to monitor their efforts to achieve DOT's pedestrian and cyclist safety goal. For example, DOT released a pedestrian safety plan in 2020 that lists 90 activities of FHWA and NHTSA but no performance measures to assess their progress. Performance measures at the FHWA and NHTSA level could help DOT understand how its different efforts are contributing to safety improvements, identify shortcomings, and make adjustments as warranted.
Why GAO Did This Study
In 2019, over 7,000 pedestrians and cyclists—about 20 per day—died in collisions with motor vehicles in the United States, up from about 4,800 in 2009. Road users' behaviors can affect pedestrian and cyclist safety, along with other factors like vehicle and road design. NHTSA provides states with over $500 million annually to address the behavioral aspects of safety.
GAO was asked to review pedestrian and cyclist safety and road users' behaviors. This report examines: (1) what is known about how road users' behaviors affect pedestrian and cyclist safety; (2) the extent to which NHTSA's countermeasure guide provides information to help states select effective projects; and (3) the extent to which DOT has used key performance management practices to help ensure activities are improving safety. GAO analyzed pedestrian and cyclist fatality data, state safety plans, and relevant literature; interviewed researchers and officials from states selected based on recent fatality trends; and compared relevant DOT strategic plans and practices to standards for effective performance management.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that (1) NHTSA collect, analyze, and share information on states' pedestrian and cyclist safety behavioral countermeasures; and (2,3) FHWA and NHTSA develop and use performance measures to monitor pedestrian and cyclist safety efforts. DOT concurred with the first recommendation and partially concurred with the others. GAO believes DOT should fully implement all three recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | The NHTSA Administrator should take steps to collect information on the range of countermeasures implemented by states and analyze that information to help advance what is known about countermeasures' effectiveness and then share results with states. (Recommendation 1) |
In November 2021, DOT stated that it concurred with this recommendation and identified steps that NHTSA plans to take to address the recommendation. Specifically, NHTSA plans to conduct a detailed review of states' highway safety plans to identify the range and extent of pedestrian and bicyclist countermeasures implemented during a year. NHTSA intends to analyze countermeasure effectiveness, consistent with the availability of data, and communicate its findings to states so they may improve their programs. NHTSA plans to complete these actions by December 31, 2023. We are encouraged by this response, and note that by sharing the results of these analyses with states, as we have recommended, DOT could help states make more informed decisions to improve safety. We will continue to monitor NHTSA's efforts to address this recommendation.
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| National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | The NHTSA Administrator should more fully use performance management practices to guide its pedestrian and cyclist safety activities, such as (1) by developing performance measures for NHTSA and the program offices responsible for implementing pedestrian and cyclist safety activities to demonstrate how these activities contribute to safety goals, and (2) by using performance information to make any necessary changes to advance pedestrian and cyclist safety efforts. (Recommendation 2) |
In November 2021, DOT stated that it partially concurred with this recommendation and identified plans that NHTSA plans to take to assess available pedestrian and cyclist data and resources to inform the development of safety countermeasures. According to DOT, NHTSA's national safety outcome information and state performance data will be a part of this framework to advance safety. Further, NHTSA's development of performance measures will include output measures, such as projects completed and total expenditures, on pedestrian and bicycles countermeasures funded through NHTSA programs, as well as tracking of its efforts to support state and local safety activities. NHTSA expects to complete these actions by December 31, 2023. However, DOT stated that performance measures that provide a direct link between individual activities and safety outcomes are infeasible. We believe that DOT's stated plan could be a useful first step in more fully using performance management practices and that performance measures should demonstrate the effectiveness of individual activities. Without such measures, NHTSA will continue to lack performance information necessary to improve their efforts and ensure their various pedestrian and cyclist safety activities are resulting in expected improvements in safety. As such, we believe NHTSA should fully implement our recommendations, and we will continue to monitor its efforts to do so.
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| Federal Highway Administration | The FHWA Administrator should more fully use performance management practices to guide its pedestrian and cyclist safety activities, such as (1) by developing performance measures for FHWA and the program offices responsible for implementing pedestrian and cyclist safety activities to demonstrate how these activities contribute to safety goals, and (2) by using performance information to make any necessary changes to advance pedestrian and cyclist safety efforts. (Recommendation 3) |
In November 2021, DOT stated that it partially concurred with this recommendation and identified steps that FHWA would be taking to more fully use performance management practices. In particular, FHWA plans to use project information reported by states to develop performance measures on pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure countermeasure implementation. These measures will include the number of projects completed and total expenditures funded through FHWA programs. Further, FHWA will track its efforts delivering resources to states, regional, and local governments to address the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. This effort will include gathering information on the impacts of FHWA resources. Additionally, through FHWA's Complete Streets initiative, a working group will identify better ways to measure the safety performance of certain projects. FHWA expects to complete these actions by December 31, 2023. However, DOT stated that performance measures that demonstrate how FHWA's activities contribute to safety outcomes are infeasible. We believe that DOT's stated plan could be a useful first step in more fully using performance management practices and that performance measures should demonstrate the effectiveness of individual activities. Without such measures, FHWA will continue to lack performance information necessary to improve their efforts and ensure their various pedestrian and cyclist safety activities are resulting in expected improvements in safety. As such, we believe FHWA should fully implement our recommendation, and we will continue to monitor its efforts to do so.
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