iRAP’s Global Safer Journeys Specialist Samar Abouraad was delighted to share insights on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to advance roadway safety assessments at the US Lifesavers Conference on Roadway Safety in Baltimore from 19-21 April.

The Lifesavers Conference, now in its 44th year, is the largest gathering of highway safety professionals in the US and a vital initiative in the country’s efforts to reduce the burden of preventable road crash deaths and injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that nearly 38,000 people died in road traffic crashes in the United States in 2025.

Bringing together over 2,000 public health and safety professionals, researchers, advocates, and practitioners, the conference shared the latest research, best practices, cutting-edge initiatives; and innovative technologies and strategies aimed at combating road risk and reducing road trauma.

Samar joined the “Road to Greater Road Safety Workshop” alongside our usRAP partners:

• Moderator: Bruce Hamilton, usRAP Lead and Executive Director of the Roadway Safety Foundation;
• Chris Kwilinski, Safety Specialist, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – Office of Tribal Transportation; and
• Matt Duncan, Traffic Operations and Safety Engineer, Metro Trafix LLC.

The workshop explored how AI is being used to conduct roadway safety assessments, enhance decision-making and create a toolkit to inform data-driven decisions to build safer roadways.

Samar shared iRAP’s global AiRAP initiative, which stands for the ‘accelerated and intelligent’ capture of road safety-related data using automatic, repeatable and scalable methods. AiRAP is helping to advance road safety assessment, crash risk mapping, and investment prioritisation for all road users through improved access to, and the application of, existing and emerging data sources globally, including advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, vision systems, LIDAR, telematics and other data sources.

The perspective of the developers of an AI driven analytics studio and a federal crash reporting toolkit developed for tribal areas was also shared in the workshop.

“AI is transforming the way we approach roadway safety”, Samar Abouraad said. “Through initiatives like AiRAP, we’re advancing the accuracy and efficiency of road safety assessments, and enabling data-driven decisions that prioritize the safety of all road users. By leveraging emerging technologies, we can map crash risks more effectively and ensure that safety investments are targeted where they matter the most. It was an honour to join our usRAP partners for this prestigious event,” she added.

The “Road to Greater Road Safety Workshop” was one of approximately 80 workshops in ten programme tracks, presented alongside plenary sessions, and an extensive exhibition.

About usRAP:

usRAP programme activity has assessed 179,376 km of roads and designs, and 98 schools, influencing the safety of US$10 million of road infrastructure investment. usRAP is recognised as an official Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool and FHWA partnerships with States and Counties are being deployed across the country. usRAP partners are applying the approach as part of the $6 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All grant initiative, included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is involved in an innovative AiRAP pilot to leverage artificial intelligence and big data to enhance road safety analysis in US networks, with expected global benefit. Fayetteville was one of five cities involved in the 2023 Mapfre CycleRAP project piloting the bicycling and light mobility risk evaluation model across Fayetteville, Barcelona, Bogotá, Madrid and São Paulo. MRI Global is one of 11 iRAP Centres of Excellence helping to shape the evidence-based global road infrastructure safety methodology and tools.