Additional responses to questions submitted to The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regarding the testing of roadside safety hardware under the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) 2016 were released Monday. 

At its meeting of October 9 in St. Louis, Missouri, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO) Board of Directors endorsed a motion put forth by the Council of Highways and Streets (Chief Engineers) to develop the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) into a “performance specification.” 

National work zone statistics for fatalities demonstrate a critical need for training roadway safety workers. From 2016 to 2017, fatalities in work zones increased from 782 to 799 – a 2 percent increase, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) website.

In recent years, there has been an uptick in collaboration between entities within the roadway safety infrastructure and automotive industries as Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) technologies progress and enter U.S. roadways. In a sweeping effort to ensure traffic control devices and roadway infrastructure effectively support the Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) of CAVs, manufacturers and groups like the Automotive Safety Council, 3M, SAE International, and ATSSA are working together to uncover the gaps in information and needs to help these vehicles perform at an optimum level. 

The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) extends their congratulations to Nicole Nason for being confirmed today as administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).