The Crash Modification Factors (CMFs) in Practice: Using CMFs to Quantify the Safety Performance of Design Decisions and Exceptions guide describes and illustrates several opportunities to incorporate the latest methods to quantify safety in the design process using CMFs. The target audience includes those who are responsible for developing, reviewing, and approving designs and design exceptions. The purpose of this guide is to help raise awareness of opportunities to consider and quantify the safety impacts of design decisions, with a specific focus on the application of CMFs to support the design process. The objectives are to 1) identify opportunities to consider safety in the various steps of the design process, 2) describe various methods available for quantifying safety using CMFs, and 3) explain when it would be appropriate to employ each method. By providing safety awareness, designers will be better prepared to assess the safety impacts of individual design elements and evaluate the overall impact of design exceptions on the safety performance of a facility. (Crash modification factors (CMFs) support a number of safety-related activities in the project development process. The CMFs in Practice series includes five separate guides that identify opportunities to consider and quantify safety in specific activities, including roadway safety management processes, road safety audits, design decisions and exceptions, development and analysis of alternatives, and value engineering. The purpose of the CMFs in Practice series is to illustrate the value of CMFs in these five activities and demonstrate practical application of CMFs.) (Author/publisher)
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