Transportation Performance Management

State Highway Safety Report (2020) - Massachusetts

The following provides a summary of the Highway Safety Improvement Program’s (HSIP) safety performance measures and State safety performance targets. As per the Safety PM Final Rule, States are required to set annual safety performance targets in the HSIP annual report for the number of fatalities, rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), number of serious injuries, rate of serious injures per 100 million VMT, and number of non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries. The safety performance targets are based on 5-year rolling averages. States have the flexibility to use the methodology they deem most appropriate. FHWA encourages States to review data sets and trends and consider factors that may affect targets. The safety performance targets should be data-driven, realistic, and attainable and should align with the performance management framework and legislative intent.

A State Department of Transportation (DOT) has met or made significant progress towards meeting its safety performance targets when at least four of the five safety performance targets established under 23 CFR 490.209(a) have been met or the actual outcome is better than the baseline performance. The baseline performance is the 5-year average ending with the year prior to the establishment of the target.

The Basis for Target and Additional Comments are provided by the State in their HSIP Annual Report and have not been edited by FHWA. Any questions about individual State reports should be directed to the respective State DOT. For additional information about each State's HSIP, the complete reports are available at https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/reports/.

More information and resources on Safety Performance Management are available at https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/spm/.

All State data used to populate the State Highway Safety Reports for 2020 are available for download at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tpm/reporting/state/tpm_dashboard_data.zip.

• 

  Number of Fatalities

• Number of Fatalities	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
  Annual	354	344	387	347	355	336	343
  5-Year Average					357.4	353.8	353.6
  Target (5-Year Average)							347.0	339.0	340.0

• Basis for Number of Fatalities Target

  • 2020 Target
  • 2021 Target
  • 2022 Target

  Per FHWA guidance, our target setting process began with a trend line projection based on the most recent available data. Based on 5 year rolling averages, the number of fatalities in Massachusetts over the last 7 years, (2012 – 2018), has been relatively stable fluctuating less than 1 percent (between 358.4 and 361.6) with the exception of 2016, when the 5 year average reached 363.8. In December 2018, the SHSP was signed by the which includes some proposed legislation that could have a marked improvement in highway safety, such as primary seat belt law and hands-free only use of electronic devices while driving. The SHSP also contains strategies that include a mix of engineering, enforcement, education, awareness and emergency response strategies, as well as data enhancements to better track highway safety. These external factors, along with continued construction of HSIP and other safety projects and continued education and enforcement programs may have an impact on the number of fatalities and serious injuries on the roadways in Massachusetts With these considerations and initiatives, we anticipate the 5 year average fatalities for 2016-2020 will be 347, a nearly 3% drop from the 2014-2018 5 year rolling average of 358.4. This target was developed in coordination with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HS) (required to submit targets to NHTSA), the MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) working closely with the MPOs, and the Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI, which produces an annual performance report called Tracker that serves the public and State Legislature). Moreover, it should be noted that our overarching goal is towards zero deaths and we will continue to work towards that goal by implementing SHSP strategies.

  Per FHWA guidance, our target setting process began with a trend line projection based on the most recent available data. However, this all changed when COVID hit and our VMTs dropped precipitously due to stay at home orders. The decline in VMTs is a change in trends from previous years, and dictated that we had to first calculate a fatality rate that would reflect a continued decrease to align with our towards zero death goals. Our previous safety target fatality rate for the 2020 5 year average was 0.56 and using our new VMT projections, we set the fatality rate to 0.55 for 2021 5 year average. We then worked backwards with the VMT projections we had for 2020 and 2021 to get reasonable fatal projections. Using our 2020 5 year average of 347, we assumed a linear 1.5% annual drop, which brings our 2021 5 year average projection to 339. Our active HSIP program, closely aligned work with our Highway Safety Office (NHTSA funded), joint efforts with our Sustainable transportation (bicyclist and pedestrian safety), commitment on several EDC programs and new Hands-free law (which went into effect in 2020 will help us to achieve our targets and our ultimate goal of zero fatalities. This target was developed in coordination with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HSD) (required to submit targets to NHTSA), the MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) working closely with the MPOs, and the Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI), which produces an annual performance report called Tracker that serves the public and State Legislature. Moreover, it should be noted that our overarching goal is towards zero deaths and we will continue to work towards that goal by implementing SHSP strategies. To be consistent with the HSP Safety Targets provided to NHTSA, we used whole numbers for our 5-year average targets.

  Per FHWA guidance, our target setting process began with a trend line projection based on the most recent available data. The 2019 fatalities were not finalized on the NHTSA FARS website when we began this process so the Massachusetts FARS statistician provided us with the 2019, 2020 and 2021 fatalities to date. Due to COVID and the shutdowns, our 2020 fatalities were not following the trend and we did not want to base our target setting on 2020. So we took this opportunity as a restart and based our trendline and targets from 2019 and ignored 2020. We assumed our 2021 fatalities would be the same as our 2019 fatalities (based on how the total fatalities were trending year-to-date). We then assumed a 2.5% reduction from 2021 to 2022 for annual fatalities. Based on assumptions above that brings our 2022 5 year average fatalities projection to 340. While we had to reset our targets because of COVID and the increases we had (based on preliminary information only) from behavioral components like speeding, unbelted, impaired, we are projecting that the fatalities will decrease based on our work efforts. MassDOT continues our efforts with HSIP, closely aligned work with our Highway Safety Office (NHTSA funded), joint efforts with our Sustainable transportation (bicyclist and pedestrian safety), commitment on several EDC programs and more. We recently started a Speed Management focus, a Safe Systems focus and are beginning planning for our SHSP that will be updated in 2023. This target was developed in coordination with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HSD) (required to submit targets to NHTSA), the MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) working closely with the MPOs, and the Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI, which produces an annual performance report called Tracker that serves the public and State Legislature) and senior leadership. Moreover, it should be noted that our overarching goal is towards zero deaths and we will continue to work towards that goal by implementing SHSP strategies.

  
  

• Data Sources:
  Fatalities: 2014-2019 Final FARS, 2020 FARS Annual Report File
  Targets: 2019-2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Reports

• 

  Fatality Rate (per 100 million VMT)

• Fatality Rate (per 100 million VMT)	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
  Annual	0.62	0.58	0.63	0.55	0.53	0.52	0.63
  5-Year Average					0.582	0.562	0.572
  Target (5-Year Average)							0.560	0.550	0.560

• Basis for Fatality Rate Target

  • 2020 Target
  • 2021 Target
  • 2022 Target

  The fatality rate is calculated using the 5 year target for fatalities and the projected vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to obtain the 2016-2020 fatality rate. MassDOT Planning projects a linear 0.3% annual increase in VMTs every year. Therefore, the fatality rate from 2014-2018 of 0.58 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled will decrease to 0.56 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2016-2020 which reflects a 4% reduction. The long term goal is towards zero deaths, so the long term fatality rate target is 0.0 fatalities per 100 million VMTs.

  Due to dramatic shifts in decreasing VMTS, we had to start with a desired reduction in fatality rates and back into targets for fatalities. To align with agency goals, we need a fatality rate that shows a decline over the previous year. MassDOT’s 2021 target fatality rate had to be reduced from the 5 year average of 2016-2020 of 0.56 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, and we assumed a reduction so that the target is now 0.55 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for 2021 ( 2017-2021). The long term goal is towards zero deaths, so the long term fatality rate target is 0.0 fatalities per 100 million VMTs.

  The fatality rate is simply math. So once we have our projections for fatalities and have our projected VMTs, the fatality rate is simply the 5 year average fatalities divided by the 5 year average VMTs. Like nearly every other state, COVID greatly impacted our VMTs so our rates spiked in 2020 with significantly lower VMTS and slightly higher fatalities. The projection is now 0.56 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for 2022 (5 year average of 2018-2022). The long term goal is towards zero deaths, so the long term fatality rate target is 0.0 fatalities per 100 million VMTs.

  
  

• Data Sources:
  Fatalities: 2014-2019 Final FARS, 2020 FARS Annual Report File
  VMT: 2014-2020 FHWA Highway Statistics Series, VM-2 Table
  Targets: 2019-2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Reports

• 

  Number of Serious Injuries

• Number of Serious Injuries	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
  Annual	3,031	2,931	2,983	2,573	2,560	2,737	2,354
  5-Year Average					2,815.6	2,756.8	2,641.4
  Target (5-Year Average)							2,689.0	2,580.0	2,504.0

• Basis for Number of Serious Injuries Target

  • 2020 Target
  • 2021 Target
  • 2022 Target

  FHWA guidance, we began with a trend line and considered external factors and planned implementation projects to inform the targets. Based on this, the predicted number of serious injuries for 2016-2020 five year rolling average would be 2,689 per year, down from 2,809.8 for 2014-2018 yearly average and equal to a 4 percent reduction. The external factors, described in the fatalities section, also apply to injuries, and will impact the number of serious injuries on our roadways. Furthermore, there is also a data issue which may impact reporting levels On January 1, 2019, our statewide crash system changed the data attributes to describe the injury severity. The term used to be “incapacitating injury” now the term is “suspect serious injury” and there are definitions provided to police agencies for a suspected serious injury that would make it easier and more objective to report on injury severity. It is unclear how this will impact the trends. As a result, the 4 percent decrease in serious injuries was selected as it generally follows the trendline. This target was developed in coordination with EOPSS/HSD (required to submit targets to NHTSA), the MassDOT OTP working closely with the MPOs, and OPMI (which produces an annual performance report called Tracker that serves the public and State Legislature). Moreover, it should be noted that our overarching goal is towards zero deaths and serious injuries, and we will continue to work towards that goal.

  FHWA guidance, our target setting process began with a trend line projection based on the most recent available data. However, this all changed when COVID hit and our VMTs dropped precipitously. The decline in VMTs is a change in trends from previous years and dictated that we had to first calculate a serious injury rate that would reflect a continued decrease to align with our agency goals. Our previous safety target for serious injury rates for the 2020 5 year average was 4.30 so our serious injury rate had to be below that. Once we had the serious injury rate set to 4.23 for 2021 5 year average, we worked backwards with the VMT projections we had for 2020 and 2021 to get reasonable serious injury projections. Using this methodology and building off of our serious injury target of 2869 for the 2020 5 year average, we assumed a linear 5% annual drop, which brings our 2021 5 year average projection of serious injuries to 2,580. Our active HSIP program, closely aligned work with our Highway Safety Office (NHTSA funded), joint efforts with our Sustainable transportation (bicyclist and pedestrian safety), commitment on several EDC programs and new Hands-free law (which went into effect in 2020) will help us to achieve our targets and our ultimate goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries. The serious injury targets were even more challenging because of the change in terminology for injury severity on crash reports. On January 1st, 2019, Massachusetts moved from incapacitating injuries to suspected serious injuries, as per Federal requirements. Some police departments have not yet fully converted over so 2019 is still a mix of injury severities and the full impact of moving to suspected serious injury is still not fully known. This target was developed in coordination with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HSD) (required to submit targets to NHTSA), the MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) working closely with the MPOs, and the Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI), which produces an annual performance report called Tracker that serves the public and State Legislature. Moreover, it should be noted that our overarching goal is towards zero deaths and serious injuries and we will continue to work towards that goal by implementing SHSP strategies. To be consistent with the HSP Safety Targets provided to NHTSA, we used whole numbers for our 5-year average targets.

  FHWA guidance, our target setting process began with a trend line projection based on the most recent available data. The 2019 serious injuries were not finalized when we began this process so the most current serious injury data in the statewide crash system for 2019, 2020 and 2021 were used. On January 1st, 2019, Massachusetts moved from “incapacitating injuries”; to “suspected serious injuries”; on the crash form, as per Federal requirements. Some police departments had not yet fully converted over so 2019 is still a mix of injury severities and the full impact of moving to suspected serious injury is not fully known. However, it appears that 2019 serious injuries went up compared to previous years and then settled back down in 2020 (we also compared to hospitalizations which did not show a dramatic spike). Furthermore, COVID and the shutdowns, may have also impacted the number of serious injuries. So we took this opportunity as a restart. We assumed a 3% reduction in the annual serious injuries from 2020 to 2021 and then a 4% annual reduction from 2021 to 2022. Based on assumptions above that brings our 2022 5 year average serious injuries projection to 2,504. MassDOT continues our efforts with HSIP, closely aligned work with our Highway Safety Office (NHTSA funded), joint efforts with our Sustainable transportation (bicyclist and pedestrian safety), commitment on several EDC programs and more. We recently started a Speed Management focus, a Safe Systems focus and are beginning planning for our SHSP that will be updated in 2023. This target was developed in coordination with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HSD) (required to submit targets to NHTSA), the MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) working closely with the MPOs, and the Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI, which produces an annual performance report called Tracker that serves the public and State Legislature) and senior leadership. Moreover, it should be noted that our overarching goal is towards zero deaths and serious injuries and we will continue to work towards that goal by implementing SHSP strategies.

  
  

• Data Sources:
  Serious Injuries: 2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Report
  Targets: 2019-2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Reports

• 

  Rate of Serious Injuries (per 100 million VMT)

• Rate of Serious Injuries (per 100 million VMT)	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
  Annual	5.27	4.95	4.82	4.11	3.83	4.22	4.35
  5-Year Average					4.596	4.386	4.266
  Target (5-Year Average)							4.300	4.230	4.110

• Basis for Serious Injury Rate Target

  • 2020 Target
  • 2021 Target
  • 2022 Target

  The serious injury rate is calculated using the 5 year target for serious injuries and the projected vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to obtain the 2016-2020 fatality rate goal. MassDOT Planning projects a linear 0.3% annual increase in VMTs every year. Therefore, the serious injury rate from 2014-2018 of 4.57 serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles traveled will drop to 4.30 serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2016-2020 which reflects a nearly 6% drop. The long term goal is towards zero deaths and injuries, so the long term serious injury rate is 0.0 serious injuries per 100 million VMTs.

  Due to dramatic shifts in decreasing VMTS, we had to start with a desired reduction in serious injury rates and back into targets for serious injuries. To align with agency goals, we need a serious injury rate that shows a decline over the previous year. To get the 2021 target, we simply took our 5 year average fatality rate from 2016-2020 of 4.30 serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles traveled and assumed a reduction so that the target is now 4.23 serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for 2021 (2017-2021). The long term goal is towards zero deaths and serious injuries, so the long term fatality rate target is 0.0 serious injuries per 100 million VMTs.

  The serious injury rate is simply math. So once we have our projections for serious injuries and have our projected VMTs, the serious injury rate is simply the 5 year average serious injuries divided by the 5 year average VMTs. Like nearly every other state, COVID greatly impacted our VMTs so our rates spiked in 2020 with significantly lower VMTS and slightly lower serious injuries. The projection is now 4.11 serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for 2022 (5 year average of 2018-2022). The long term goal is towards zero deaths and serious injuries, so the long term serious injury rate target is 0.0 fatalities per 100 million VMTs.

  
  

• Data Sources:
  Serious Injuries: 2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Report
  VMT: 2014-2020 FHWA Highway Statistics Series, VM-2 Table
  Targets: 2019-2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Reports

• 

  Number of Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries

• Number of Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
  Annual	563	526	536	497	463	519	405
  5-Year Average					517.0	508.2	484.0
  Target (5-Year Average)							505.4	506.0	471.0

• Basis for Number of Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries Target

  • 2020 Target
  • 2021 Target
  • 2022 Target

  As with all the other target setting measures, FHWA’s guidance is to start with a trend line forecast and then consider external factors and planned implementation in order to set targets. Using historical data to create a trend line, the predicted number of fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists for the 2016-2020 yearly average see an increase from the 2014-2018 yearly average of 505.4 (this target includes bicyclists and pedestrians, and excludes skaters, not reported, train/trolley passengers, and other, from the query for statewide data for serious injuries). However, even though the fatalities and injuries has been trending upwards, Massachusetts is actively working on strategies to ameliorate non-motorist fatality and injuries, while promoting and encouraging walking and cycling. In fact, the past two years of closed crash data do indicate the trend may be changing. Therefore, the goal is to reverse the trend of increasing fatalities and injuries and move towards zero deaths and injuries. To do this, we have set the goal identical to the 2014-2018 5 year rolling average of 505.4. The 2018 Strategic Highway Safety Plan, the 2019 Statewide Pedestrian Plan and the 2019 Statewide Bicycle Plan identify new multi-disciplined and multi-agency strategies to implement to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries of people walking and bicycling. There also may be some implementation of low-cost systemic projects related to pedestrian safety in an effort to further drive down fatalities and serious injuries. Therefore, although our current trend line shows a projected increase in non-motorist fatalities and serious injuries, our goal is to reverse the trend and move towards zero deaths.

  As with all the other target setting measures, FHWA’s guidance is to start with a trend line forecast and then consider external factors and planned implementation in order to set targets. Using historical data to create a trend line, the number of fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists had been going up until the past two years when the trend was reversed and the numbers started coming down. As with other targets, Massachusetts wanted to reflect on the concept that we are moving towards zero deaths and serious injuries so our targets would need to move in that direction. In 2020, our safety target for the 5 year average of pedestrian and bicyclist fatal and serious injuries was 517. To reflect a reduction, we assumed a 2% annual reduction in fatalities and 1% reduction in serious injuries. Overall, this translated to a 2021 5 year average of 506 fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists. Massachusetts is actively working on strategies to ameliorate non-motorist fatality and injuries, while promoting and encouraging walking and cycling. The 2018 Strategic Highway Safety Plan, the 2019 Statewide Pedestrian Plan and the 2019 Statewide Bicycle Plan identify new multi-disciplined and multi-agency strategies to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries of people walking and bicycling. There also may be some implementation of low-cost systemic projects related to pedestrian safety in an effort to further drive down fatalities and serious injuries. Therefore, we hope to see at least this reduction in non-motorist fatalities and serious injuries, which is working towards our ultimate goal towards zero deaths and serious injuries. To be consistent with the HSP Safety Targets provided to NHTSA, we used whole numbers for our 5-year average targets.

  As with all the other target setting measures, FHWA's guidance is to start with a trend line forecast and then consider external factors and planned implementation in order to set targets. Using historical data to create a trend line, the number of fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists had been going up until 2016 when the annual numbers of fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists went consistently down through 2018. We saw a large jump in 2019 in serious injuries, however, fatalities continued to trend downward. Again, the increase in the 2019 serious injuries could have been due to the reporting change of the injury type from incapacitating to suspected serious. In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, we experienced a steep decline in both fatalities and serious injuries. Because of the high fluctuations in numbers, to establish our target, we assumed 2021 non motorist fatalities and suspected serious injuries to be equal to the average of 2018, 2019 and 2020. To project the non motorist fatality and serious injuries for 2022, we assumed an overall 2% drop. Overall, this translated to a 2022 5 year average of 471 fatalities and serious injuries combined for non-motorists. Massachusetts is actively working on strategies to ameliorate non-motorist fatality and injuries, while promoting and encouraging walking and cycling. The 2018 Strategic Highway Safety Plan, the 2019 Statewide Pedestrian Plan and the 2019 Statewide Bicycle Plan identify new multi-disciplined and multi-agency strategies to implement to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries of people walking and bicycling. The new focus on Speed Management and a Safe Systems approach should also help to drive down the fatalities and serious injuries. There also may be some implementation of low-cost systemic projects related to pedestrian safety in an effort to further drive down fatalities and serious injuries. Therefore, we hope to experience at least this reduction in non-motorist fatalities and serious injuries, which is working towards our ultimate goal towards zero deaths and serious injuries.

  
  

• Data Sources:
  Fatalities: 2014-2019 Final FARS, 2020 FARS Annual Report File
  Serious Injuries: 2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Report
  Targets: 2019-2021 Massachusetts HSIP Annual Reports

Additional Comments

2020 Comments:

Please note that 2018 data are draft and expected to change. Typically, the statewide crash file closes approximately two years later. Presently, 2017 is our most current closed year. However, the safety performance targets were based on the preliminary information.

2021 Comments:

As with all the other target setting measures, FHWA’s guidance is to start with a trend line forecast and then consider external factors and planned implementation in order to set targets. Using historical data to create a trend line, the number of fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists had been going up until the past two years when the trend was reversed and the numbers started coming down. As with other targets, Massachusetts wanted to reflect on the concept that we are moving towards zero deaths and serious injuries so our targets would need to move in that direction. In 2020, our safety target for the 5 year average of pedestrian and bicyclist fatal and serious injuries was 517. To reflect a reduction, we assumed a 2% annual reduction in fatalities and 1% reduction in serious injuries. Overall, this translated to a 2021 5 year average of 506 fatalities and serious injuries for non-motorists. Massachusetts is actively working on strategies to ameliorate non-motorist fatality and injuries, while promoting and encouraging walking and cycling. The 2018 Strategic Highway Safety Plan, the 2019 Statewide Pedestrian Plan and the 2019 Statewide Bicycle Plan identify new multi-disciplined and multi-agency strategies to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries of people walking and bicycling. There also may be some implementation of low-cost systemic projects related to pedestrian safety in an effort to further drive down fatalities and serious injuries. Therefore, we hope to see at least this reduction in non-motorist fatalities and serious injuries, which is working towards our ultimate goal towards zero deaths and serious injuries.

Safety Performance Target Assessment

PLEASE NOTE: Each State’s safety performance target assessment is based on its own State-specific target methodology and program philosophy. Therefore, conclusions should not be drawn based only on the information in the Safety Performance Target Assessment Summary table. For example, the State may have set aggressive targets, and not met those targets, while another State may have set more easily attainable targets, and met those targets. FHWA understands that each State’s safety program is unique and therefore does not prescribe a methodology for States to set targets. States have the flexibility to use the methodology they deem most appropriate when setting their safety performance targets.