Transportation Research Board - 2nd International Roadside Safety Conference

Call for Papers

The call for paper and abstract submissions, is now CLOSED.

If you would like to check the progress of your submission or application click here .

Please reference the Extended Abstract and Full Paper Guidelines for any information regarding your submissions.

“Innovating for a Safer System”

The Transportation Research Board is soliciting papers for the upcoming 2nd International Roadside Safety Conference (IRSC) and Peer Exchange. This conference will offer the following two levels of submission covering any relevant topic related to roadside safety, either in the format of a full paper or extended abstract:

1. Research-Level and Practical Papers

Research-level papers generally covering new developments based on scientific studies
Practical papers generally documenting implementation, innovation, decision-support tools, case studies, and experiences that need to be shared

Accepted manuscripts will be published in either the Conference Proceedings or the Transportation Research Record (TRR), Journal of the Transportation Research Board. A limited number of papers recommended by the conference technical committee, reviewed and accepted by the TRR Editorial Board will be published in the TRR.

2. Extended Abstracts/Synopses (Presentations Only)

Extended abstracts or synopses, generally document/summarize implementation of new knowledge, case studies, work in progress, or experience. These activities are being included in the conference to provide additional opportunities for participants to share valuable ideas with the entire Roadside Safety community, without having to prepare a full-paper. Accepted submissions also will be published in the Conference Proceedings. Authors of Extended Abstracts will not be requested, or offered an opportunity, to submit a full paper based on the review of an extended abstract.

3. Additional Details

All paper and extended abstract submissions will be peer reviewed by a technical committee following the TRB review process. Authors of accepted papers and abstracts/synopses will be invited to present their findings in podium, poster, panel, or workshop sessions at the Conference.

4. Topics of Interest

General topics of interest for the 2nd IRSC and Peer Exchange include but are not limited to those that relate to some aspect of the Safe System approach. Presentations and papers should promote peer exchange, improve dissemination of research, encourage more rapid implementation of best practices, and introduce new technologies and roadside safety products related to the five Safe System elements: safer roads; safer speeds; safer vehicles; safer people; and post-crash care, in order to to reduce deaths and serious injuries associated with roadway departure crashes.

The primary objective for the 2nd IRSC and Peer Exchange is to reduce deaths and serious injuries to the traveling public, internationally, reduce deaths and serious injuries associated with roadway departure crashes by applying the six Safe System principles: death/serious injury is unacceptable, humans make mistakes, humans are vulnerable, responsibility is shared, safety is proactive, and redundancy is crucial. Presentation and paper abstracts are being sought to address the strategic goals of the IRSC, as described above. Specific topics of interest to the IRSC include but are not limited to the following subthemes and details:

Safer Road Users

Behavioral efforts to reduce roadway departures
Vulnerable populations including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and persons with disabilities
Enforcement for impaired and distracted driving
Equity in transportation
Tribal communities

Safer Vehicles

Advances in vehicle-to-roadside infrastructure technologies
Smart or connected vehicle technologies to assist drivers with staying in their lanes
Automatic emergency braking
Improvements in passive vehicle safety measures R&D: airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones
Safety of vehicles with alternative fuels and electric vehicles
Truck and bus safety
Hazardous material vehicle rollovers and mitigation strategies

Safer Speeds

Safety benefits of speed reduction and increased traffic law enforcement
Effects of higher national speed limits
Influence of speeds on roadway departures
Addressing safety on roadways with mixed-traffic and non-homogenous speeds
Roadway designs that manage speeds and deter excessive speeding behavior
Innovative policies to achieve lower speeds

Safer Roads

Probability of interacting with roadside features during roadway departure and probabilities of resulting serious or fatal injury
Assessment of safety features using in-service performance evaluations (ISPEs)
Roadway departure trajectories
Advances in barrier design and selection criteria to reduce the severity of crashes
Computer simulation, dynamic component testing, and full-scale crash testing
Improvements of crash outcomes using energy-absorbing technologies
Roadway treatments to help reduce human mistakes: improved visibility and delineation, friction treatments, rumble strips
Cost-effective safety improvements for low-volume and rural roads
Narrow objects: trees, utility poles, sign supports, traffic signals
Advances in breakaway sign support, luminaire poles, and traffic signal poles technologies
Roadside geometric feature treatments to reduce crash potential if drivers do leave the road: shoulders, clear zones, slopes, median design, drainage features, pavement edges, roadside obstacles
Separating roadway users (in space and in time) - focusing on non-motorized traffic
Safety improvements through crash reconstruction
Maintenance practices for existing roadside safety infrastructure
Work zone safety devices
Asset management and roadside inventory
Strategic Highway Safety Plans
Friction measurement and treatment

Post-Crash Care

Training for first responders
Crash scene data collection, analysis, and traffic management
Strategies for safe crash scene traffic management
Methods for sharing data across agencies or organizations, including hospitals
Crash notification and response procedures, especially in rural areas

Roadside Safety Hardware

Full Papers & Extended Abstracts: If you need more information or clarity on the submission process, please email Brian Roberts or Ashley Vaughan. Make sure you have "Roadside Safety Questions."

Papers Submission and Review Timeline

Call for Papers:	June 16, 2023
Paper Submissions Deadline	September 29, 2023
Review Results Sent to Authors	February 9, 2024
Submission of Revised Papers	April 19, 2024
Authors notified of final presentation and publication decisions	May 3, 2024
Submission of Final Papers	May 17, 2024

ALL authors whose final manuscripts have been approved and accepted are expected to register for the conference and present their submission.

Need more Information?

Questions and Inquires: If you need additional information or have additional questions, send an email to Ashley Vaughan or Brian Roberts. Make sure you have "IRSC Conference" in the subject line.