Roadway Safety Modernization Act of 2025

This bill amends federal highway safety programs to allow grant recipients to integrate advanced technologies like predictive data analytics and telematics . The legislation updates the Highway Safety Improvement Program, National Highway Freight Program, and National Priority Safety Programs to enable the use of these tools for identifying roadway safety risks, improving planning, and evaluating the effectiveness of safety projects. This modernization aims to enhance how safety issues are proactively addressed across the nation's transportation infrastructure. Specifically, the amendments permit the development and deployment of safety data systems that incorporate these advanced methodologies for risk modeling and highway safety planning. States will be able to use crash data and predictive analytics to evaluate the efficacy of safety interventions and assess the comparative benefits of various strategies. This will facilitate more data-driven decisions in allocating resources for highway and freight safety improvements. The bill also directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue guidance within one year on best practices for managing the data collected. This guidance will cover anonymizing data , ensuring data security, protecting personally identifiable information, and promoting transparency and accountability in the use of predictive analytics and telematics. Furthermore, it emphasizes that these safety data and related technologies must be based on validated methodologies to ensure their reliability and effectiveness. To ensure a cohesive national approach, the Act mandates coordination among various Department of Transportation administrations and offices involved with predictive safety tools. It also requires the Secretary to consult with other federal agencies, including the Departments of Energy and Commerce, to foster the effective use and interoperability of these advanced technologies across federal programs. This collaborative effort is designed to maximize the impact of technological advancements on overall highway and freight safety.