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Maryland Strategic Highway Safety Plan

Maryland's Strategic Highway Safety Plan is modeled after a national plan developed by experts in various aspects of highway safety under the leadership of the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). It differs from the national plan in that it is oriented toward the State's specific problems/needs rather than those of the nation as a whole. The plan strives to provide a consensus blueprint for significantly enhancing highway safety throughout the State over the first five years of the 21st Century and having a lasting benefit thereafter. It is expected that implementation of the most critical strategies will, by the end of 2005, result in a reduction of annual fatalities from 617 in 2000 to fewer than 525.

The plan specifically addresses 23 identified program areas within the broader topics of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, trucks and buses, highways, emergency services, and program management. As a strategic plan, it focuses on the various strategies within the various program areas that have been identified as having substantial potential for reducing deaths and injuries on Maryland's streets and highways.

The plan was prepared by a team of highway safety planning experts from State, local, and federal agencies, led by staff of the State Highway Administration's Office of Traffic and Safety. It is anticipated that the plan periodically will be updated.

Enhancing highway safety is critical to the health and well being of the citizens of 
Maryland and others who travel its streets and highways. Without continued substantial improvement in highway safety, traffic crashes will continue to be a leading cause of death and injury for a large segment of the population as well as a major socio-economic drain of the resources of government and the people of this State.

Click here to download the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (Uncompressed PDF)