Agency official outlines state road‑safety strategy, urges proactive prevention

An agency official delivered a policy statement urging California to prevent roadway deaths through earlier action and integrated planning, saying "Mobility and loss of human life should never intersect." The official introduced new guidance called Design Information Bulletin DIB94 and promoted the ISO intersection safety and operational assessment process as practical tools for local adoption.

The official said safety must be the first priority in transportation decisions, arguing that waiting to change practices until after crashes occurs is inadequate. "If we make changes only after someone has been seriously injured or killed in a crash, it's too late," the speaker said, calling for prevention-focused planning, design, and maintenance across projects and budgets.

The statement linked land use and trip distances to safety outcomes, saying closer access to schools, jobs and transit shortens trips and increases walking and biking options. The speaker urged aligning transportation, housing and climate policy to shorten trips and expand mode choice, and said roadways should be designed for their intended context—separating regional highways from neighborhood streets.

As a concrete design step, the official described DIB94, a design information bulletin intended to set target speeds and encourage physical separation of users (for example, roundabouts and separated bikeways). The speaker encouraged local agencies to adopt DIB94 and adopt context‑sensitive target speeds rather than applying one standard to all road types.

The official also endorsed use of the ISO intersection safety and operational assessment process in partnership with local agencies to standardize decision frameworks and identify high‑risk intersections needing treatment. Beyond design and assessment, the statement listed complementary layers—technology, enforcement, public awareness, emergency response and data—to create redundancy and improve outcomes.

The speaker framed these measures as state leadership that can shape street decisions beyond state highways: through evidence‑based guidance, the state can help communities choose safer designs. The statement referenced a joint secretary's policy on road safety prioritizing prevention, managing speeds, and protecting the most vulnerable road users.

The briefing closed with a direct prompt to practitioners and partners—"What do you do?"—underscoring the speaker's call for local adoption of the guidance and integrated approaches to funding and project decisions.