The awards, given every two years, honor programs that aim to reduce highway fatalities and injuries through “innovation in operations, planning, and design improvements.” Winners are evaluated on effectiveness, innovation and efficient use of resources for an infrastructure and operation improvements category and a program planning, development and evaluation category.
Applications are due June 9 and may be submitted here. Submissions are sought from state, local and tribal governments as well as planning organizations, regional councils, Local Technical Assistance Programs, Tribal Technical Assistance Programs and universities.
Winners will receive:
- An invitation and funded travel to attend an award ceremony in Washington, D.C., in November
- Opportunities to network with key transportation offcials in Washington, DC
- National media coverage and additional local media support, identifying the organization as a leader in highway safety
- Appearance in the 2017 National Roadway Safety Awards Noteworthy Practices Guide, Public Roads magazine, the Roadway Safety Reporter, the FHWA Safety Compass, as well as other publications of national safety and transportation organizations
- Recognition on several websites operated by FHWA, RSF, and their safety partners
- An engraved plaque
Criteria for judging projects include:
Effectiveness
Projects or programs that:
- Result in or demonstrate high potential for significantly reducing fatal and serious injury crashes
- Create a proven case for greater emphasis on roadway safety in transportation planning, programming, project delivery, construction, and/or maintenance
- Support safety improvements through greater public awareness that yields a positive change in transportation safety culture
Innovation
Projects or programs that use innovative concepts at a national, state, or local level including:
- Creative approaches to address highway safety concerns
- Innovative management approaches to overcoming barriers to safety implementation
- Inventive solutions to a particular serious injury or fatal crash problem
- Proactive involvement of the public and/or stakeholders
Efficient use of resources
Projects or programs that:
- Are implemented cost-efficiently
- Use planning and engineering resources efficiently and/or employ cost-sharing through multi-source partnerships, task forces, or coalitions
A list of winners from 2015 is available here.
