What is a Safety Corridor

Safety Corridor – Meaning

Safety Corridors are special segments of highway that have been identified based on data analysis to be high collision zones, especially for severe injury and fatal collisions.

It can be said to be stretches of state highways where fatal and serious injury traffic crash rates are higher than the statewide average for similar types of roadways.

To reduce the number of these incidents, the stretch of the road is designated as a “Safety Corridor” and becomes subject to heightened enforcement and double fines for traffic infractions, if signed. Drivers may also be asked to turn on headlights during the day, reduce speed and refrain from passing. The primary cause of these crashes is driver behavior (speeding, aggressive driving, impairment and distracted driving).

The corridors are identified by special signs telling drivers when they enter and leave the corridors. If you drive through a Safety Corridor and obey the speed limits and all other driving laws, you have nothing to worry about and can expect to encounter better driver behavior.

According to Wikipedia;

The Safe Corridor initiative is part of an effort by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and departments from other states, to improve the safety of its roads. Roads with accident and fatality rates above the average may have some of their lengths designated as “Safe Corridor” areas. In these areas, traffic fines are doubled.

At the program’s inception, there were thirteen roads with Safe Corridors: U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 9, Route 10, Route 17, U.S. Highway 22, Route 23, U.S. Route 30, U.S. Route 40, U.S. Route 46, Route 47, Route 73, U.S. Route 130, and U.S. Route 206.

The Safe Corridors Program is a part of New Jersey’s “Safety First” initiative, which combines $20 million in highway improvements over five years with stricter police enforcement, increased fines for unsafe equipment and hazardous driving, and enhanced driver education for all motorists. New Jersey’s Safe Corridors Program focuses on improving safety along the State’s most crash-prone corridors – nearly 130 miles (210 km) of state roadway.

Safety Corridor Designation Criteria in Oregon

The five year average of the local fatal and serious injury crash rate is at or above 150 percent of the latest statewide five year average for a similar type of roadway (as determined by the ODOT Crash Analysis and Reporting Unit).
The initial Designation Team agrees that the corridor length is manageable from an enforcement and education (media coverage) standpoint. The segment of highway must be similar in nature. Two to 10 miles in length is preferable. Rural sections may be substantially longer than urban sections.
State and/or local law enforcement agencies commit to making the corridor a patrol priority.
There is a multi-disciplinary stakeholder group that meets on a regular basis (at least annually, as defined in the charter). Stakeholders are defined as those individuals, groups, and agencies that have expressed a current interest in the safety corridor and are considered to have valuable input in the process.