The U.S. – Central European Technology Exchange Program is a cooperative effort of United States and Central European highway transportation agencies. The vision of the program is a technology exchange that advances a safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation in all of the countries. A number of differences can be identified in the road safety and risk management between the United States and Europe, most notably in the area of traffic law enforcement. There are also institutional differences, which are worth investigating. The objective of the SnowFlake Study is to develop collaborations on management and operational activities in order to improve the effectiveness of road safety approaches at different governmental levels. Another objective is to share recommendations with others, and to strengthen linkages between Central Europe and the U.S. Concepts from Central European best practices can be brought to the United States, and specifically to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and Rhode Island municipalities. This analysis describes basic similarities and differences in the national road safety policies and levels in each country. Major obstacles for effective safety improvements are discussed, identifying future opportunities and risks. The analysis of safety exposure data permits an impartial comparison and greater understanding of the influence that national policy actions have on safety development. The SnowFlake Framework is shown to be a very suitable for assessing the relationships of dissimilar governmental entities and identifying areas for improvement. The data generated by the study could be used to target specific safety activities on a state-by-state basis.
Abstract