ASSESSMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF HIGHWAY ACCIDENT COUNTERMEASURES. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Improved cost-effectiveness techniques are developed for evaluating highway safety programs. These improved techniques include: better methods of determining accident costs; statistical procedures for calculating accident costs; consistent system for evaluating accident cost and countermeasure effectiveness; and improved incremental benefit-cost algorithm for ranking safety projects. In addition to developing improved cost-effectiveness techniques the report reviews selected accident countermeasure studies and provides a critique of current procedures for evaluating safety programs. Three techniques are recommended for use in allocating safety funds: incremental benefit-cost, with improved algorithm; dynamic programming; and integer programming.