ATSSA Signal September October 2019

The Signal | September/October 2019 9 MASH update received at AFB20-TCRS conference Questions arise over which entity will oversee safety hardware guidelines In July, ATSSA staff attended the Trans- portationResearchBoard (TRB) Roadside SafetyDesignCommittee (AFB20) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Technical Committee on Roadside Safety (TCRS) conference in conjunction with AASHTO Committee on Design (COD) and AASHTO Council on Active Trans- portation (CAT) in Reno, Nevada. ATSSA along with AASHTO staff, state Department of Transportation (DOT) designersandengineers, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) officials, consul- tants, researchers, testing laboratories, manufacturers, and others industry professionals discussed progress and challenges related to implementation of the AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). “During the AFB20-TCRS conference, there were great discussions about vari- ous progressions and issues related to MASH, various research initiatives, and a number of presentations on the activ- ities of different public agencies and organizations,” ATSSA Senior Technical Advisor Eric Perry said. Perry noted one key takeaway from the conference was related toMASH owner- ship—as AASHTOannounced that Under- writers Laboratories, a not-for-profit testing laboratory, declined to be AASH- TO’s third-party vendor. The third-party vendorwill take theplaceof FHWA’s role in determining crashworthiness of devices, issuing eligibility letters, and providing technical assistance. This is the second potential third-party vendor in the past year to withdraw from consideration. According to Perry, it is possible that the FHWA will continue in its previous role of writing eligibility letters and provid- ing technical assistance. Additionally, FHWA announced that they are work- ing with AASHTO to develop and release another roundof Frequently AskedQues- tions (FAQs) and are prepared to release approximately 15 eligibility letters pend- ing approval of the FAQs, which can be found on the AASHTO website. ATSSAVicePresident ofMember Services DonnaClark, whoalsoattended themeet- ing, saidthe issuewithfindinga third-party vendor to fill FHWA’s role has been some- thing ATSSA is monitoring. “We know MASH is very important to our members and has a great deal of impact on their businesses and opera- tions,” Clark said. “Uniformity instandards and practices is essential in the roadway safety infrastructure industry, andMASH represents just that. Themore time that goes on, the more critical it will become to find an entity to oversee these stan- dards.” As a result of discussion regard- ingMASH during the conference, ATSSA will host an additional session during the 2020 Annual Convention & Traffic Expo, inNewOrleans. Themeetingwill address state processes for determining product eligibility within the States.  We knowMASH is very important to our members and has a great deal of impact on their businesses and operations. Uniformity in standards and practices is essential in the roadway safety infrastructure industry, and MASH represents just that. The more time that goes on, the more critical it will become to find an entity to oversee these standards. Events Coverage

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