Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)
The HSIP is a "core" funding program under the federal transportation funding legislation SAFETEA-LU. The HSIP is designed to fund projects that reduce the number and severity of highway-related crashes and to decrease the potential for crashes on all highways.
In order to utilize HSIP funding, Indiana must maintain a Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) with a process that is data driven, comprehensive, and includes consultation with other key safety stakeholders in the State.
Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP)
Improving highway safety is vital to the health and well-being of every Hoosier. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death from age three to 33 and the eighth leading cause of death across all ages.
Looking beyond the personal tragedy of death and injury, healthcare costs and lost productivity due to traffic crashes contribute to a significant economic loss annually. The cost of Indiana traffic crashes is estimated to be in excess of $4 billion.
Indiana’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan, serves as a framework for efforts to make our highway system safer to drive, walk, and bike. It is a comprehensive strategy for making better data-driven decisions on where safety improvements are needed, how best to educate our drivers, make and enforce our laws, and ensure a swift emergency response to save lives and ease suffering when crashes do occur.
Under federal law, INDOT is charged with creating and maintaining the SHSP in consultation with safety partners and stakeholders.
The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) serves as the state's planning agency for criminal justice, juvenile justice, traffic safety, and victim services. It is the home of the Governor’s Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving, which is charged with developing policies, procedures, strategies, and programs to effectively manage and administer Indiana's highway safety program under 23 U.S.C. § 402.
The Indiana State Police (ISP) serves as the state’s front-line law enforcement agency. Their duties include working with communities to improve public safety, enforcing drug laws, investigating crimes, enforcing traffic laws, and enforcing the laws and regulations pertaining to commercial motor vehicles.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles is charged with the licensing of drivers, the registration and titling of vehicles, the collection of taxes, and the management of records related to these functions.
The Department of Revenue Motor Carrier Services Division (DOR) oversees Indiana’s “one stop shop” for commercial motor vehicle services. This includes international registration, oversize and weight permitting, fuel tax stamps, and other commercial vehicle programs.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) embodies four divisions, the division of planning and assessment, the division of preparedness and training, the division of emergency response and recovery, and the division of fire and building safety. These divisions intertwine to accomplish the central mission of IDHS: safeguarding the lives and property of the citizens of Indiana.
The Department of Education (DOE) has oversight of all public school driver education programs. It is also home to the Indiana Motorcycle Operator Safety Education Program. A standard curriculum is taught at all training sites by instructors who have been nationally certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), and who meet the additional requirements of the State. DOE also provides the initial training and certification, as well as required annual update training for all of the State’s more than 20,000 school bus drivers.
Operation Lifesaver (OLI) is a private, non-profit, continuing public education program to end collisions, deaths, and injuries at places where roadways cross train tracks, and on railroad rights-of-way.
Four separate administrations within the U.S. Department of Transportation are active in Indiana’s highway safety efforts, including . . .
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) carries out the Federal highway programs in partnership with the State and local agencies to meet the Nation's transportation needs. FHWA administers these programs to ensure that Federal funds are used efficiently and promote the use of the best available safety practices, programs, and technologies in all phases of highway planning, design, construction, and operation.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has the primary mission of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is tasked with enhancing traffic safety through education, research, establishing safety standards, and promoting enforcement activity. Indiana is serviced by the Great Lakes Regional center.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issues and enforces rail safety regulations, administers railroad assistance programs, conducts research and development in support of improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policy, and consolidates government support of rail transportation activities.
The SHSP is a living document designed to identify, analyze, and prioritize the greatest threats to highway safety. It identifies countermeasures designed to lower the number of crashes, injuries, and deaths that occur each year on Indiana highways. It encourages government agencies and safety advocates to work across jurisdictional boundaries to address crash problems regardless of where they occur.
SHSP EMPHASIS AREAS
Emphasis Area 1: Develop Safer Young Drivers
Emphasis Area 2: Increase occupant protection
Emphasis Area 3: Reduce impaired drivers
Emphasis Area 4: Improve motorcycle safety
Emphasis Area 5: Reduce large truck crashes
Emphasis Area 6: Reduce bicycle and pedestrian crashes
Emphasis Area 7: Reduce “High Risk” rural road crashes
Emphasis Area 8: Minimize the possibility and consequences of leaving the roadway
Emphasis Area 9: Improve safety at intersections
Emphasis Area 10: Reduce crashes at highway railroad crossings
Emphasis Area 11: Enhance emergency services response to traffic crashes
Emphasis Area 12: Expedite crash clearance to reduce secondary crashes and congestion
Emphasis Area 13: Improve the quality of the data used to make safety improvement decisions
