Next week (June 24-28), the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is rallying its members across 23 countries for Global Road Safety Week, part of the year-long Be Safe Together campaign aimed at reducing speeding, distracted driving, and impaired driving on highways around the world.
Road safety might not be the first thing people connect with a tolling association, but IBTTA CEO Pat Jones explains the idea came from IBTTA’s current president Bill Halkias and is rooted in very real safety efforts already underway.
Bill Halkias, PE, FASCE, FTE, is president Emeritus of the Hellenic Association of Toll Road Network (HELLASTRON) and president of IBTTA. Halkias is currently an advisor to the Management of Attica Tollway Operations Authority (Attikes Diadromes SA), and was formerly the company’s MD and CEO until January 2022.
“Bill Halkias wanted to do a global road safety campaign and get the entire world involved,” says Jones. “Our members invest so much in safety, so it’s a natural fit. They invest in safety features like road geometrics, work zones, and speed monitoring technology. So we want to highlight this, but also look at ways to change driver behavior.”
IBTTA’s research found a startling disconnect between the investments in road safety and driver behavior. “You get out there surrounded by your two tons of metal, and you start thinking ‘I’m alone out here, I can go as fast as I want,'” Jones says. “But every decision you make behind the wheel affects the safety of every other person on the highway.”
The solution, according to Jones, is promoting empathy among drivers. “We’re urging people to slow down in work zones, back off if they see construction vehicles, use turn signals, and ditch their phones.”
Distracted driving is a particular emphasis, with former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood getting involved in the campaign and addressing the “epidemic” dangers of phone use while driving.
Jones highlights two examples where toll operators have driven remarkable safety improvements through concerted efforts:
“The Pennsylvania Turnpike has focused on reducing work zone crashes, injuries and deaths through a program started in 2016. Since then, they’ve reduced work zone accidents by 30%.”
“In Austria, the motorway operator ASFINAG has embraced ‘vision zero’ principles like safe vehicles, roads and speeds between 2010-2020. They’ve reduced traffic fatalities on their system by 50% in that decade.”
The Global Road Safety campaign kicks off Monday June 24, with a press event featuring remarks from Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO Stacy Stewart, and other transportation leaders.
“We all have the ability to make our roads safer within our own hands,” Jones states. “It’s about bringing empathy and respect out onto the highways.”
As toll operators demonstrate what’s possible through roadway engineering and driver education, IBTTA hopes to inspire the same safety-first mindset among the wider transportation community. Anyone who wants to get involved should visit the Be Safe Together website.
