Highway Safety Research Center contributes to international transportation conference

Nine researchers from the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center were among the presenters or moderators at the 87th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), January 13–17, in Washington, D.C.

TRB is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council — a private, nonprofit institution that is the principal operating agency of the National Academies in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Annual Meeting serves as a forum designed specifically for the formal and informal exchange of information among transportation researchers and practitioners.

In addition to HSRC's presence at the annual meeting, a select group of HSRC researchers were honored with the "Best Paper" Award by the TRB Pedestrian Committee. "Evaluation of the Miami-Dade Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project" was authored by six HSRC researchers and was chosen as the best paper among a pool of 53.

The Miami-Dade project collected data over a span of 8 years. The purpose of this study was to identify and implement a comprehensive countermeasure program that could reduce deaths and injuries among pedestrians in a large urban environment.

The TRB annual meeting covers all transportation modes. Researchers from the Highway Safety Research Center made presentations on a wide range of topics in several subject areas.

Below is a complete list of HSRC researchers who made presentations at the meeting.

Daniel Carter
Safety Evaluation of Installing Center Two-Way Left-Turn Lanes on Two-Lane Roads

Raghavan Srinivasan, Ph.D.
Evaluation of Safety-Effectiveness of Selected Treatments at Urban Signalized Intersections
Safety Evaluation of Flashing Beacons at Stop-Controlled Intersections
Development of a Web-Based Expert System for Setting Speed Limits in Speed Zones

Charles Zegeer
Pedestrian Issues
Evaluation of the Miami-Dade Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project
Marked Crosswalk Dilemma: Uncovering Some Missing Links in a 35-Year Debate

Robert D. Foss, Ph.D.
Should We Ignore Nobel Prize Winners? The Value of Social and Behavioral Science Theory for Enhancing Traffic Safety

Libby Thomas
Safety Effects of Automated Speed Enforcement Programs: Critical Review of International Literature

David Harkey
Data Needs for New Safety Tools

Forrest M. Council, Ph.D.
Traditional Influences of Surface Discontinuities