AASHTO Recognizes Louisiana for Leadership in Safety

DETROIT — The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DODT) has been named the recipient of AASHTO’s 2011 Safety Leadership Award. The award was announced during AASHTO’s Annual Meeting in Detroit, which took place Oct. 13-17.The award is given to a member state that has demonstrated itself as a safety champion through actions designated to drive down serious injuries and fatalities. The award program is run by AASHTO’s Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety, and the winner is chosen by the committee.

DODT exhibited its commitment to safety by adopting the Towards Zero Deaths initiative and upgraded the Louisiana Strategic Highway Safety Plan, a comprehensive, data-driven approach to identify the areas with the greatest room for improvement in safety. DOTD worked with the Louisiana State Police, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, and many other partners to develop safety-related goals, objectives, and performance measures for high-priority safety emphasis areas.

Because of the effort by DODT and its partners, traffic fatalities in Louisiana dropped 25% from 2005 to 2010, from 965 deaths to 720. Also during that time frame, serious injuries have decreased 19%, from 16,534 to 13,382. Additionally, the fatality rate of 1.58 deaths per 100,000,000 vehicle miles traveled is the lowest in more than 25 years. DOTD expects to see the number of fatalities and injuries continue to fall as its program gains traction.

More information on AASHTO’s Safety Leadership Award is available at bit.ly/2011safety.