Road design plays a critical role in preventing traffic crashes and reducing the risk of serious injury or death. By implementing a Safe System Approach, we can engineer infrastructure that accounts for human error and prioritizes driver protection.
Safe roads are intentionally designed to prevent crashes and protect occupants when mistakes occur. Rather than blaming the driver, this approach focuses on "forgiving" infrastructure that ensures a simple error doesn't result in a fatality. By prioritizing these improvements, North Dakota can significantly reduce the severity of traffic incidents.
Key Roadway Features of a Safe System:
- Enhanced Visibility: Utilizing improved lighting, clearer signage and unobstructed sightlines at intersections.
- Speed Management: Implementing roundabouts, narrow lanes and speed humps to naturally encourage safer driving speeds.
- Traffic Separation: Using medians, physical barriers and dedicated bike lanes to separate different road users and opposing traffic.
- Forgiving Roadsides: Installing rumble strips and cable barriers to protect drivers during lane departures.
Road design is vital to the Vision Zero ND initiative. To achieve our goal of zero fatalities on North Dakota roads, we integrate safe road engineering with four other critical safety areas:
- Safe Road Use: Improving driver behavior and awareness through education and enforcement.
- Safe Speeds: Setting and enforcing appropriate speed limits for the environment.
- Vehicle Safety: Promoting advanced safety technology and crashworthiness.
- Post-Crash Care: Enhancing emergency response times and medical treatment.