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State Conducting First Assessment of Bike-Ped Safety Programs

New Hampshire’s Department of Safety (NHDOS) is conducting its first formal assessment of the state’s bike-ped safety programs as part of its periodic assessment of the state’s highway traffic safety program. While the assessment of the state’s overall highway traffic safety program is required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the bike-ped safety assessment is optional. NHDOS has included a number of subject-matter experts, including BWANH – represented by board members Paula Bedard, Dave Topham, and Bruce Caplain – in the bike-ped assessment. Bedard and Topham have been part of NHDOS’s Traffic Safety Commission for a number of years. The bike-ped program assessment includes weekly virtual meetings, which began in early August and will continue for several months.

NHDOS will provide a draft assessment to NHTSA in January 2024 and the assessment will then be finalized within a few months.  NHTSA will perform a three-day review of the assessment with NHDOS and the subject-matter experts to discuss questions and better understand the information provided. A lot of input and documentation from various state agencies, Regional Planning Commissions, and non-profit bike-ped organizations is needed to answer some 115 detailed questions covering Program Management, Education, Enforcement, Engineering, Emergency Medical Services, and Equity.  For example, one question is, “Does your State’s Highway Safety Improvement Plan (HSIP) and Highway Safety Plan (HSP) include efforts that are aimed at reducing pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities?” The state’s current HSP does not aim to reduce cyclist fatalities; rather the plan’s goal is no increase in cyclist fatalities. This is an area that the assessment could identify as in need of improvement.

The net result of the bike-ped assessment will be to highlight areas of consistency with federal guidelines and those needing attention.  Along the way, all parties working with NHDOS on this project are learning a great deal about NH programs and how state agencies currently share information.  After just five weeks of these meetings, it has become clear that agencies and departments should work together more closely and not in silos.

For more information, contact BWANH at info@bwanh.org.