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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Applying Telematics Data to Support Traffic Enforcement</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2720301</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Telematics is increasingly used to help traffic enforcement shift toward data-driven, risk-based, and preventive safety interventions. Telematics systems collect data such as vehicle speed, acceleration, braking, cornering, location, time of day, and sometimes phone distraction indicators. In a traffic enforcement context, this data can support hotspot identification and targeted enforcement deployment. Relevant traffic enforcement applications include: 1. Speed management - telematics can reveal where speeding is routine, not just where crashes have already occurred. This is especially useful on arterials, rural roads, school zones, and work zones. 2. Distracted driving risk - mobile-device telematics can indicate patterns of phone interaction while driving. This is better suited for network-level risk mapping than individual citation issuance. 3. Commercial fleet compliance - fleet telematics can support internal safety management, identify repeat risky driving behavior, and guide employer-based interventions. 4. Work-zone safety - telematics can help detect excessive speeds near work zones and support placement of speed safety cameras or police presence.

The Governors Highway Safety Association has recently promoted a shift toward using anonymized, aggregate telematics insights to identify risky conditions before crashes occur, such as repeated high-speed driving through school zones or distraction on rural roads.

Research is needed to develop a better understanding of the application of telematics data to support traffic enforcement.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this research are to: Document the existing state of knowledge regarding the application of telematics data to support traffic enforcement; Assess pilot projects underway in various states; Assess primary issues and unintended consequences, and propose measures states can take to manage risks; Develop a guide for state highway safety and other state agencies indicating (1) how they can use this technology to promote traffic safety and (2) recommendations for standardizing the use of telematics data to meet user needs; Propose a study design for use in potential future BTSCRP research to address knowledge gaps.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:00:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2720301</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Leading Permitting Practices that Harmonize Enforcement of Divisible Load Permits across Jurisdictions</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2681239</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A February 2023 workshop with industry and state representatives identified challenges related to inconsistent interpretation and enforcement of divisible load requirements. Although 23 CFR 658.5 provides a definition of “divisible load,” both industry and state agencies report variation in how the definition is applied across states and, in some cases, within the same state.

Some states provide written guidance for operators and enforcement personnel, while others offer limited or no formal documentation. These differences can create operational challenges, including route adjustments, additional travel time, increased fuel use, parking constraints, and scheduling complications. Operators may also receive citations in one jurisdiction for loads that are permitted in another.

OBJECTIVE: This scan will examine how divisible load requirements are interpreted and enforced across states, counties, metropolitan areas, municipalities, and other transportation agencies. It will document differences in practice, explore factors contributing to those differences, and incorporate input from industry partners regarding cross-jurisdictional challenges and potential solutions.

The scan team will: Identify and document current interpretation and enforcement practices; Evaluate variations in definitions and applications of divisible load requirements; Highlight successful initiatives that promote clarity and consistency; Assess strategies that support improved compliance across jurisdictions; Develop recommendations for consistent documentation of divisible load requirements; Propose a clear, standardized definition for consideration by AASHTO and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

OBJECTIVE: The goal is to improve clarity, consistency, and coordination across jurisdictions while supporting effective enforcement and industry compliance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:58:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2681239</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Tools to Support Enforcement of Micromobility Traffic Laws and Crash Reporting



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2570610</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The rise of micromobility devices, including e-scooters, e-bikes, and other personal transportation technologies, has transformed urban transportation. The proliferation of these devices has introduced new challenges for law enforcement. The characteristics of micromobility devices—small size, high maneuverability, lack of registration, and shared usage models—create complexities for traffic enforcement and crash reporting. Additionally, traffic safety laws in many states are often unclear with regard to micromobility, providing limited guidance to law enforcement officers in regulating these devices.

Crashes involving micromobility devices are often underreported. Furthermore, legal ambiguity and limited police training exacerbate the difficulty of enforcing traffic laws and properly reporting crashes involving micromobility devices. These gaps hinder efforts to ensure the safety of all road users. Research is needed to assess these challenges and develop actionable recommendations to improve enforcement practices, reporting protocols, and interagency collaboration.

The objective of this research is to develop a toolkit to improve the state of the practice related to enforcement of traffic safety laws for micromobility users and crash reporting.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:24:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2570610</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SafeSpeed: Enhancing Work Zone Safety through Speed Enforcement 
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2440014</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The large number of work zone crashes has been a significant concern of transportation agencies and researchers. In the US, a work zone crash occurred every five minutes during 2015-2019. One approach for transportation agencies to reduce work zone crashes is to lower the speed within work zones, for example, posting speeding limits and installing speeding cameras. This approach is supported by studies that highlighted that average traffic speed is associated with crash risk. However, the findings of the relationship between traffic speed and crashes are inconsistent, which could lead to conflicting or even misleading interventions with the speed enforcement in work zones. Work zone presence could lead to the reduction of actual traffic speed that influences crash risk and, at the same time, directly impose effects on crash risks.  It is challenging to rigorously separate these direct and indirect impacts. Furthermore, the actual impact of speed enforcement countermeasures on work zone crash risk has been rarely studied among the literature, providing limited knowledge on whether these countermeasures are effective in reducing crash risk near work zones in practice.

In this research project, the research team will apply a comprehensive causal analysis and Web-Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach to enhance work zone safety through speed enforcement in Pennsylvania and Maryland. It contains three core initiatives. First, it develops a causal inference model to analyze the impact of work zones on crash risk controlling for traffic speed with the equational g-estimation and regression discontinuity design (RDD), using multiple large-scale and high-granular data sets. Second, it examines the work zone impact on crash risk under different speed enforcement countermeasures. Lastly, the research team creates an interactive Web-GIS platform for comprehensive traffic safety analysis in work zones, enabling stakeholders to access and analyze crashes related to work zones, speed enforcement measures, and other important crash contributors, with continuous data updates planned until 2025. This platform aims to identify high-risk areas and provide insights for safety improvements in work zones.

First, the team will establish a rigorous causal inference model to infer the causal impact of work zones on crash risk when the traffic speed is controlled with high-granular and multi-source data sets. The team proposes to use an innovative approach, i.e., the combination of the sequential g-estimation and RDD, to examine the causal effect of the presence of work zones on crash occurrences when the traffic speed is controlled. The sequential g-estimation removes the effect of traffic speed on crash risk. RDD mitigates the potential confounding bias caused by roadway characteristics. The proposed method will be implemented using high-granular and multi-source data of thousands of work zones in Pennsylvania (PA) and Maryland (MD) between 2018 and 2023 to control for the complex built and natural environments and reduce the associated bias of the estimation. The results can provide insights for most desired and actual traffic speeds to reduce work zone crash risk.

Second, the team will examine the impact of work zones on crash risk under different speed enforcement countermeasures. The team will apply the same framework in the first step to examine the heterogenous causal impact of work zones on crash risk under different speed enforcement countermeasures, including no speed enforcement, posting speed limit, and posting speed limit along with enforcement (e.g., automated speed enforcement and high-visibility enforcement), and compare the impacts for the work zones in PA and MD. In addition, the team will further estimate these heterogenous impacts (by speed enforcement countermeasure) under various work zone characteristics, time of day, and traffic volumes. The results can offer information on how different speed enforcement countermeasures modify the causal impact of work zones on crash risk and, accordingly, provide implications for better deploying these countermeasures.

Third, the team will build an interactive Web-GIS platform for work zone traffic safety analysis using the safety data in PA and MD. The digital platform provides users with an online interactive interface to explore all work zones in PA and MD by multiple aspects, including speed enforcement countermeasures, average speed, traffic volumes, roadway characteristics. In addition, the platform can help users identify high-risk locations, highlight potential crash contributors, and offer suggestions on how to improve work zone safety for each work zone based on their characteristics and locations.  In addition, the team will continue to collect and archive up-to-date data from various data providers in both PA and MD from 2024 to 2025 and enhance the web platform. The safety data providers include Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT SHA), Waze, NOAA, and private data sources, including INRIX, TomTom, and Replica. The team will integrate and analyze large-scale crash data and develop an additional function to the platform to visualize and forecast crash types, frequencies, and severity for each road segment in the two states, especially those with work zones and different speed enforcement countermeasures. With that said, the platform allows transportation agencies and other related stakeholders, such as urban planning departments, local communities, consulting firms, and academic institutions, to access historical, real-time, and forecasted traffic safety metrics for all work zones. The team will continue to interview various data providers to enhance the quality and quantity of massive data in both states.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 12 Oct 2024 12:18:07 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2440014</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Effective Practices to Integrate Traffic Citation and Adjudication (TCA) Data </title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2431642</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project is to compile effective practices to integrate Traffic Citation and Adjudication (TCA) datasets and provide a synthesis of the same so as to enhance safety for road users. Further, it will outline critical steps to help adopt such practices in Nevada. Key project activities will include a review of the literature, federal, state, and local legislation and regulations, possible case studies, interviews with key individuals and organizations, and briefings of stakeholders. 
Repeat violators of traffic laws pose substantial risk and cause irreversible harm to road users. The disconnect between law enforcement officers (LEOs) / law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and the judiciary / judicial processes often leads to such individuals not being identified in a timely manner. Such identification would enable interventions that could avert avoidable adverse safety outcomes resulting from actions of these road users. The disconnect may be due to policies, programs, practices, or processes related to completing the various steps between a LE officer interacting with a road user and any potential adjudication outcomes. 
To try to avoid (or at least reduce the potential for) repeat violators of traffic rules and regulations causing irreparable harm to road users, key gaps in the “system” need to be eliminated. The gaps include procedural steps and timeliness of actions and access to data such as gaps between when an LEO interacts with a motorist and issues a warning or a citation, how this is recorded in database, how the data / records are made available with minimal latency to other LEOs, who has access to these databases, how these databases are linked to the court system, and how the adjudication process and their outcomes are linked back to the citation system.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:36:05 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2431642</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Guidelines for Authorizing, Implementing, and Operating Automated Traffic Enforcement Programs



</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2394423</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Automated traffic enforcement technology is widely used as a supplement to law enforcement officers. Deployment of automated enforcement in the United States has increased in recent years for a number of reasons, including improved deterrence of targeted traffic violations, societal questioning of the use of law enforcement officers for routine traffic enforcement, and increasing officer vacancy rates in many law enforcement agencies. Despite widespread and growing use of automated enforcement and reported safety benefits, a number of questions are routinely raised. 

How effective are different types of automated traffic enforcement in the United States, and how widely are they accepted? 

How can automated traffic enforcement programs best be designed, implemented, and managed to (1) inspire confidence and trust and (2) increase compliance with traffic safety laws? 

What program approaches and program architecture are best suited to address (1) the perception that automated traffic enforcement is used primarily to generate revenue; (2) the belief by some that privacy infringements outweigh documented safety benefits; and (3) concerns that certain communities are overrepresented and overburdened by this traffic enforcement strategy? 

Answering such questions would help state highway safety offices (SHSOs), policymakers, and other stakeholders shape traffic safety laws and public policy on the use of automated traffic enforcement. To the extent possible, guidelines developed through this project shall be relevant to current and future applications of automated traffic enforcement, including (1) various types of violations targeted, and (2) various technologies deployed. 
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop guidelines for (1) authorizing, implementing, and operating automated traffic enforcement programs that inspire confidence and trust and (2) assessing public opinion and concerns regarding automated traffic enforcement by jurisdictions using, or considering the use of, this technology. 

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2024 15:22:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2394423</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Roadmap for the Future Role of Law Enforcement Personnel to Enforce Traffic Safety Laws</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2394427</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In recent years the role and function of traffic law enforcement have changed. Some jurisdictions have placed limitations on the engagement of police officers in certain traffic safety functions, such as policies that forbid traffic stops for vehicle equipment violations. There has been a reduction in the number of sworn law enforcement officers in many jurisdictions due to retirements, increased vacancy rates, and other factors, thus further contributing to a reduction in traffic enforcement activity. 

With changes in the role and function of traffic law enforcement, two questions germane to state highway safety offices (SHSOs) and their law enforcement partners are (1) does the public accept and want police to enforce traffic safety laws and (2) what should be the future role and function of law enforcement officers in traffic enforcement? Research is needed to help answer both questions. 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop a roadmap for the future role of law enforcement personnel to enforce traffic safety laws. 

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:39:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2394427</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Effectiveness of Automated Speed Enforcement in School Zones and Guidance for Continuous Usage in Georgia</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2342180</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using automated speed enforcement practices in school zones of Georgia in improving safety and reducing the speeds of cross traffic through school zones. Additionally, the study will explore the public opinions of the practice via a survey.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2024 09:09:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2342180</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Feasibility of a National Traffic Safety Enforcement Database</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2259089</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this project is to produce a document that assesses, updates, and adds to the recommendations described in the 2011 NHTSA report, “Feasibility of Collecting Traffic Safety Data from Law Enforcement Agencies” for developing and implementing a nationally representative database of traffic safety enforcement activities. In addition to discussing the 2011 report, this document will describe what data elements would be feasible to include in such a database, what methodological considerations should be made when sampling law enforcement agencies for the database, and what barriers or challenges might be encountered when implementing and maintaining the database.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:04:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2259089</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Creating a Data Resource of California Police Stops for Use in Traffic Safety Applications</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2229363</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Traffic stops are one the most common ways in which the American public interacts with police. Although one of the leading reasons given for police traffic stops is a violation of the vehicle code, there is limited and mixed research on the impact of traditional police traffic enforcement on traffic safety outcomes. At present, few large data resources with an appropriate level of detail exist to facilitate investigations of this type. The 2015 Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) requires all law enforcement agencies in California to collect and submit vehicle (including bicycle) and pedestrian stop data to the State Department of Justice annually, starting no later than 2022. This project will use 2018-2022 confidential RIPA stop data to categorize all police traffic stops using known risk factors for fatal and severe collisions and to create new variables relevant to traffic safety, yielding a standardized statewide data set useful for examining and controlling for police traffic stops as they relate to traffic safety outcomes. Further, the research team will both establish clear guidance for how to process RIPA data efficiently for future data releases and will also will geospatially join the processed RIPA data files with traditional transportation and land use data sources using stop location so that this data resource can be made available to others for future research. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Aug 2023 08:10:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2229363</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Quantifying Impacts of Traffic Enforcement Activity Levels on Safety</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2205314</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A decade-long downward trend in police traffic enforcement has been exacerbated by recent internal and external pressures on law enforcement agencies. The reduction in traffic enforcement activity may provide an opportunity to evaluate safety impacts when the enforcement treatment is reduced, and consequently be an indicator of the relative value associated with traffic enforcement.
Research is needed to develop a better understanding of the relationship between enforcement and safety outcomes, and to show how changes in enforcement activity and investments may or may not affect safety outcomes. Quantifying the safety outcomes of traffic enforcement can potentially contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the efficacy of enforcement. Outcomes can also help to calibrate enforcement efforts, favoring those that are more promising for given driving behaviors and violations.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this research are to (1) assess how changes in traffic enforcement levels and type of enforcement activity correlate with corresponding changes in traffic-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities and (2) provide state highway safety offices (SHSOs) and other decision makers with practical tools to identify optimal levels of traffic enforcement to help reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries. This research will contribute to the existing body of knowledge, helping to calibrate enforcement efforts for optimal effectiveness based on driving behaviors and specific violations.


]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Jul 2023 12:52:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2205314</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Examining the Implications of Legislation and Enforcement on Electronic Device Use While Driving</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1894353</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Distracted driving is a complex and ever increasing risk to public safety on roadways. Drivers’ use of electronic devices significantly diverts human attention away from the driving task. The law enforcement community faces significant challenges as electronic device use has expanded beyond simply texting, and legislation regulating electronic device use while driving is inconsistent in content and implementation. For example, many states currently prohibit texting while driving, but don't address other functions of portable and in-vehicle electronic devices. The effectiveness of current distracted driving legislation, such as primary handheld bans and texting bans, is unknown. This confusion may lead to the continued perception among drivers that it is acceptable to use electronic devices while driving. Therefore, there is a need to systematically examine relevant existing legislation and enforcement practices.
 
 
The objectives of this research were to (1) examine the essential components of current state and provincial legislation (e.g., language, penalties, sanctions) used to address distracted driving while using electronic devices; (2) evaluate the benefits and impediments associated with enacting, enforcing, and adjudicating texting and hands-free legislation; and (3) develop model legislation to deter distracted driving while using electronic devices.
 


]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2021 11:04:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1894353</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Investigation of Illegal Weigh Station Bypassing</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1877380</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Kentucky offers motor carriers the option to bypass weigh stations by using mainline screening services such as PrePass or Drivewyze. Before they are approved to use bypass services, Kentucky screens motor carriers; they are screened again by those services immediately prior to the weigh station. Some motor carriers have been observed illegally bypassing weigh stations by (1) shadowing a PrePass or Drivewyze truck with bypass clearance as it passes the station (i.e., ghosting), (2) bypassing on the mainline despite having no authority to do so, or (3) pulling into the weigh station only to disregard weigh station signage when directed to stop and park for inspection. This problem has been exacerbated by dramatic reductions in the number of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) personnel and the need to move officers away from the weigh stations to focus on traffic enforcement and roadside inspections. Inspectors staffing weigh stations lack the authority to chase down vehicles whose drivers do not comply with weigh station signage.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 08 Sep 2021 11:04:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1877380</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Assessing and Mitigating Racial Disparities in the Enforcement of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Micromobility Traffic-Related Laws










</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1864198</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine terminated the subject project and its subaward because its scope of work was not aligned with federal transportation focus areas.


 ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 05 Jul 2021 16:59:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1864198</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SPR-4637: Speed Enforcement in Work Zones and Synthesis on Cost-Benefit Assessment of Installing Speed Enforcement Cameras on INDOT Road Network</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1858260</link>
      <description><![CDATA[High speed movement of vehicles through construction work zones increases the risk and severity of crashes to both motorists and construction workers. This project will develop cost effective and scalable performance measures to identify location and time of day when enforcement could/should be targeted and develop quantitate estimates of the potential benefit of automated enforcement.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 10 Jun 2021 15:41:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1858260</guid>
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