Toolkit for Institutionalizing the Safe System Approach
The recently released NCHRP Research Report 1181 Toolkit for Institutionalizing the Safe System Approach presents 30 tools designed to support the broader institutionalization of the Safe System Approach (SSA).
These tools assist transportation agencies in assessing, refining, and aligning their systems, funding strategies, decision-making processes, and project delivery practices with Safe System principles. The report provides practical, proven, and emerging strategies to support meaningful implementation across departments and levels of government.
The report also serves as a valuable companion to existing SSA guidance by offering hands-on tools and real-world examples that help address common institutional challenges and support sustained safety outcomes within a transformed safety culture.
SSA is a comprehensive framework that emphasizes shared responsibility, proactive design to accommodate human error, and the management of kinetic energy to prevent serious injuries and fatalities among roadway users. It offers the potential for broader safety impacts than siloed or isolated safety efforts.
Supplemental to this report is the NCHRP Web-Only Document 451 Developing a Toolkit to Institutionalize the Safe System Approach, which documents the research effort underlying the development of the report.
Who is NCHRP?
The National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducts research in problem areas that affect highway planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance in the United States.
Administered under the Transportation Research Board (TRB), NCHRP is a collaborative effort between the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Academy of Sciences.
