Overview
Preliminary information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that traffic fatalities dropped to 36,640 in 2025 from 39,254 in 2024 and there were approximately 2.42 million injuries across 1,676,700 injury crashes. This does not include other types of roadway incidents such as property-damage-only crashes or roadway debris. Every roadway crash places first responders to traffic incidents at risk and may create conditions for secondary crashes.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Operations has highlighted traffic incident management (TIM) through the Every Day Counts (EDC) program since its inception. The EDC program is a state-based initiative managed by FHWA to identify and rapidly deploy proven, yet underutilized, transportation technologies and practices.
The AASHTO Transportation Operations Manual (TOM) includes Chapter 20: Event Management Tactics that focuses on the continuum of related incident response types beginning with TIM:
- Chapter 20: Event Management Tactics
- 20.1: Traffic Incident Management (TIM)
- 20.1.1: Incident Locations
- 20.1.2: TIM Components
- 20.1.3: TIM Stakeholders
- 20.1.4: Implementing a TIM Program
- 20.1.5: TIM Performance Measurement
- 20.1: Traffic Incident Management (TIM)
Next Generation Traffic Incident Management (Next Gen TIM) describes leading-edge applications of integrating technology, data, and training that support incident response and resolution. The goal of these applications is to support responders in their incident response and on-scene duties by providing:
- Increased Safety. NextGen TIM targets advances in safety through engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency services to help keep responders, drivers, and pedestrians safe across freeway, arterial, and multimodal travel.
- Improved Travel Times. Training, data, and technology combine to help local and State agencies reduce secondary crashes and clearance times, improving trip reliability and increasing motorists' awareness of active responders along their travel routes.
- Improved Operations. Integrating new and emerging technology, tools, and training can improve incident mitigation and safety throughout the whole TIM timeline, from incident detection to clearance on all roadways.