ATSSA’s Midyear Meeting features a panel on “Creating a Culture of Safety in the Workplace.”

Panelists include Doug Dolinar of Guidemark Inc., Kathi Holst of D2K Traffic Safety Inc., Chris Brookes of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Cameron Greene of ATSSA. Dave Krahulec of Horizon Signal Technologies will moderate.

The Midyear Meeting will be held Aug. 15-18 at the Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. Registration is now available. The hotel block closes July 24.

Start planning now for ATSSA’s 54^th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in San Diego and be part of innovating roadways, advancing safety and enhancing infrastructure.

The Feb. 2-6 event takes place at the San Diego Convention Center with the expansive Traffic Expo covering nearly 250,000 square feet. Explore the exhibits over 14.5 hours of the Convention.

Learn from subject matter experts at 50 education sessions, gain insights into government relations advocacy at the legislative session and take advantage of cutting-edge information during the Circle of Innovation (COI), which is open to all attendees.

Register now to play a role in advancing roadway safety through innovation and collaboration.

TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit, this morning released a report showing that the high number of traffic fatalities and serious-injury crashes over the past three years took a significant toll on the nation in both lives lost and economic costs.

Utilizing data from a 2023 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report, TRIP estimated that fatal and serious traffic crashes in the U.S. in 2022 caused a total of $1.9 trillion in “societal harm,” including $465 billion in economic costs and $1.4 trillion in quality-of-life costs.

Connected arrow boards offer several advantages for work zone safety, a message ATSSA is helping spread through a new one-page flyer available for free download.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (IowaDOT) has required the use of connected arrow boards on all interstate and state highway projects since 2022 as reported in a feature about smart arrow boards in Roadway Safety magazine.

The Connected Arrow Boards flyer was created by the Work Zone ITS Subcommittee of ATSSA’s Temporary Traffic Control (TTC) Committee and approved by the full committee at its February meeting. It notes that more than 3,000 connected arrow boards are already in use on roads and lists seven benefits of the devices.

ATSSA now offers a Worker Protection Toolkit that will help the industry prevent roadway worker injuries and be equipped to respond in case of an injury or death.

“The overarching goal is to protect the lives of roadway workers,” said ATSSA Vice President of Member Services Donna Clark. “That is why this toolkit was designed to provide assistance in properly training workers. We recognize, however, that tragedies can occur so we also provide a roadmap for employers in case the worst happens.”

The Worker Protection Toolkit is the result of efforts by the Roadway Worker Protection Council. The RWP Council grew out of a Roadway Worker Protection Summit held during ATSSA’s 2021 Convention & Traffic Expo.

Since the first quarter of 2021, ATSSA has monitored the availability of several key raw materials on behalf of the roadway safety infrastructure industry.  In the most recent survey conducted in May, most members surveyed indicated they are seeing lessening impacts from the raw materials shortages of last year.

In response to the latest raw materials survey results, ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner said, “I understand there may be continued challenges in obtaining electronic components and microchips to support the demand for signs and signals. Resin, plastics and sheeting have also been referenced. However, most of the suppliers feel they will be able to meet their contractual obligations for this year and be able to build on these successes into 2024. While this is better news than a year ago, we will continue monitoring the availability of materials by surveying our manufacturer and supplier community to ensure ATSSA keeps our industry informed.”

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee today released its draft reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The bipartisan Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act would reauthorize the FAA aviation infrastructure and safety programs for the next five fiscal years, with a total investment of around $103 billion over the lifespan of the bill.

At ATSSA’s Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in February, the Government Relations Committee approved a policy allowing for the Association to get engaged with this reauthorization, with a specific focus on increased investment on airfield and curbside infrastructure. The bill released earlier today would provide $20 billion in grant funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The AIP is the main grant program responsible for funding airfield and access road focused infrastructure safety projects. The full list of AIP eligible projects is available online.

The ATSS Foundation awarded Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships to 14 students for the 2023-24 academic year.

The Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship Program started in 2002 to provide financial assistance for post-high school education to dependents of roadway workers killed or permanently disabled in roadway work zones. The program is competitive and provides scholarships valued up to $10,000 per student each year. Since its inception, the program has awarded 126 Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships. An additional 26 Chuck Bailey Memorial Scholarships—valued at $1,000 each—have been awarded to applicants who demonstrate a strong commitment to volunteerism. Bailey was a member of the roadway safety industry who died in 2002.

“The goal of the program is to help dependents of workers killed or permanently disabled in a work zone incident navigate a path forward,” said Foundation Director Lori Diaz.

ATSSA’s Public Agency and Marty Weed Engineering scholarships provide department of transportation (DOT) officials opportunities to engage with the latest roadway safety tools and the people advancing the industry at the largest gathering of roadway safety infrastructure officials in North America. 

A record-breaking crowd registered for ATSSA’s 2023 Convention & Traffic Expo, and more are expected for the 54th annual event in San Diego, Feb. 2-6. 

The overreaching contractual obligation to assume responsibility for another party beyond the extent of your own negligence or willful misconduct is unreasonable and a clear and present danger to the industry.  

I recently listened while an ATSSA member shared an experience, recounting the unsettling details of a lawsuit that altogether changed his approach to every project. For this member, had it not been for a negotiated settlement in exchange for a full release, a jury award would have easily exceeded the available limits of liability insurance and forced a sell-off of corporate assets. The hard-to-swallow reality of the matter was his involvement was simply a consequence of a far-reaching contractual obligation. 

The business survived with memory of the experience serving as an endless reminder to never again roll over for blanket contractual risk-shifting.