TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD

OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

NEWS

PAST EVENTS

AUTHOR GUIDELINES

RELATED LINKS

The vision of the Research Subcommittee is to drive positive changes in the quality of research conducted for and incorporated in the Highways Safety Manual.  The subcommittee seeks to do this not by prescribing protocols for research, but rather by increasing the accessibility of information on methods that have been successfully utilized to produce sound research results.  To this end, members of the Research Subcommittee organized a workshop held at the 2005 TRB Annual Meeting entitled, "After the Crashes Are Counted."  With overwhelming positive feedback from the workshop, an additional workshop entitled “Cause, Effect and Intervention: Present and Future Direction in Road Safety Research” was conducted at the TRB 2006 Annual Meeting.  Following are links to presentations from both workshops:

After the Crashes are Counted – TRB 2005

Cause, Effect and Intervention: Present and Future Directions in Road Safety Research – TRB 2006

The subcommittee is responsible for procedures for having research evaluated for acceptance into the HSM. A Scientific Review Group has been formed and will be requested to participate in review of existing and new research studies for the inclusion to or exclusion from the HSM. The Research Subcommittee envisions that their input may be desirable in multiple stages of the research process as shown in the table below.  Further, the subcommittee is working to develop an internet-based submittal and review procedure that will assist in the identification and review of research materials for future updates of the Highway Safety Manual.

Review During Conduct of Research

Review of
Completed Research

Task Group Recommendations

1. Provide basic research principles to be followed
   
2. Review of research ideas*
   
3. Review of methods*

1. Review of methods**
   
2. Participation of TG members on NCHRP panels**

1. Monitoring and review of journal publications*
   
2. Monitoring and Review of sponsored research*
   
3. Solicitation/
   Review of State sponsored research*

1. To fill existing gaps
2. For follow-on research
3. To identify potential conflicts with guides and standards publications
   
   

*Research Task Group review serves as a screen for Scientific Panel Review
**Particularly on HSM Generated Projects