Long-Term Stewardship of Safety Data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Letter Report: October 14, 2013

On October 14, 2013, TRB’s Committee on the Long-Term Stewardship of Safety Data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) sent its second letter report to Victor Mendez, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The letter report provides advice about the future administration of data now being collected as part of SHRP 2’s safety research program.

This letter report builds off of the Committee’s first letter report of May 3, 2013, that recommended a phased approach to the long-term administration of the driving-safety data. The first phase (Phase 1), which would be overseen by a governance board, would be a period of experimentation with the administration of the driving-safety data and its actual use for research purposes.

In the October 14 report, the committee provides a set of principles intended to maximize the use of the data and to ensure that their use is appropriate (e.g., that privacy is protected) and sustained. In addition, the committee provides recommendations concerning priority issues for the governance board to consider and specific activities for obtaining key empirical information in Phase 1.