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The Mid-East Rural Planning Organization (MERPO) has partnered with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Traffic Safety Unit to create a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan to improve regional traffic safety. The goals and objectives for this plan come directly from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) recommendations for building safer transportation networks through the Safe Systems Approach. The five pillars of the Safe Systems Approach are Safer Roads, Safer Speeds, Safer Road Users, Safer Vehicles, and improved Post-Crash Care. The goals and vision of this plan apply these five pillars through creating SMART goals to address these issues within the MERPO jurisdiction. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound, which allows this plan to create a feasible path toward the overarching goal of Safe Systems Approach of eliminating all traffic-related deaths and serious injuries.
Below are a few examples of how the five pillars from the Safe Systems Approach are applied to prevent, and ultimately eliminate, traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. These applications include roadway design, driver education, improved safety signage, and investment in rapid emergency response. These examples represent the types of strategies that can be used in the MERPO region to create a safer mobility network across all three counties.
1. Safer Roads: Design and maintain roadways that minimize the potential for severe crashes.
2. Safer Speeds: Encourage operating speeds that are appropriate to roadway function, surrounding lane use, and transportation modes used along the roadway.
3. Safer Road Users: Promote responsible and safe behavior among all users, recognizing that humans make mistakes.
4. Safer Vehicles: Promote vehicle practices that reduce crash risk and severity.
5. Post-Crash Care: Provide rapid, coordinated emergency response.
7-31-2025 MERPO Comprehensive Safety Action Plan presentation to the TCC and TAC (click to view/download)
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