Information and decision support needs for highway safety.

In December 1997, the AASHTO Executive Board endorsed a Strategic Highway Safety Plan that was developed by its Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety. This Plan represents a bold step as it envisions a concerted effort across all aspects of highway safety to achieve the ambitious goal of a reduction of 5,000 to 7,000 fatalities per year. Topics 21 (Improving Information & Decision Support Systems) and 22 (Creating More Effective Processes & Safety Management Systems) of the Plan focus on improving information resources, the development of better decision support systems, and the implementation of effective safety management processes. Strategies under these topics are described in this brief paper.