Traffic Safety Culture: Projects

All states have developed Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSP), and many states have updated their plans at least once. Each SHSP has a highway fatality reduction goal, and several states have set their goals at zero. The scan team examines practices in states, counties, metropolitan areas and municipalities that have highway safety goals of zero fatalities.

The purpose of this project was to quantitatively evaluate the relationships between MDT's occupant protection program activities and seat restraint usage throughout Montana, in an effort to clarify how MDT's occupant protection programs may affect seat restraint use.

NHTSA and the Governors Highway Safety Association recently developed a series of safety performance measures that include use of fatalities and serious non-fatal injuries. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has also been working to develop similar performance measures.

The purpose of this project was to develop a better understanding of the traffic safety culture (i.e., shared values, beliefs, and attitudes) of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC). A survey was developed based on an augmented integrated model of behavior and was implemented using mailed and internet-based methods. Adults age 18 and older from the U.S. responded.

The Center for Health and Safety Culture is working with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to assist with efforts to cultivate a positive, healthy culture among Montana parents to reduce underage drinking. The Center will create resources and provide training for Montana’s prevention system to engage parents in evidence-based practices.

The final report summarizes the methods, results, conclusions, and recommendations derived from a survey conducted to understand values, beliefs, and attitudes regarding engagement in behaviors that impact the traffic safety of others.

The primary purpose of this research was to provide guidance to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) on strategies to improve the traffic safety culture in the districts they are forming to for this purpose. This will be accomplished through surveying other states’ traffic safety culture programs, analyzing Kansas crash data, and compiling a relevant list of strategies to target the top concerns of each Kansas District.

The Highway Safety Office of the Department of Public Safety for the State of Utah and the Center for Health and Safety Culture are engaged in a project to address the significant disparities that exist between urban and rural rates of seat belt use among citizens of Utah. This project seeks to improve rural traffic safety and reduce injuries and fatal car crashes by utilizing the Positive Culture Framework across the social ecology to transform driving culture. Throughout this multi-year project, the Center will provide trainings on the PCF framework, develop and implement baseline surveys to measure existing positive norms, perceived norms, and critical gaps regarding seat belt use. The Center will develop and implement efforts focused on adults, youth, law enforcement, workplaces, and key leaders in the seven rural counties.

Provides an accessible report that integrates evidence about cannabis and traffic safety.

What gets measured, gets improved. With respect to the safety and health of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) employees, the primary metric used has been the OSHA recordable incident rate. This incident rate measures how often a Cabinet employee sustains an injury that demands more than basic first aid. This metric is important for understanding injury frequencies, but it does not assist with management of the safety, health, and overall well-being of KYTC personnel. Based on a review of leading safety indicators adopted by various industries, this study devised a comprehensive list of safety metrics the Cabinet will benefit from tracking. Metrics were evaluated, organized, weighted, and compiled into a three-tier scorecard that is used to assess performance at KYTC’s district, area, and executive levels. Five major dimensions of an effective safety program were identified: (1) management leadership and commitment, (2) employee engagement, (3) training and competence, (4) hazard identification and control, and (5) evaluation and improvement. Surveys of KYTC districts found that all metrics performed robustly, while stakeholders at executive levels usually assigned lower scores to the five dimensions. Employee engagement had the lowest score. The Cabinet will benefit from seeking out more opportunities to involve employees in the agency’s safety program. Equally, the study reiterates the value of gaining management buy-in, support, and leadership when working to eliminate incidents and injuries.

The results indicate that many aspects of Minnesota are predictive of the level of engagement in both risky and protective behaviors. Often, the misperception that risk-taking is common and accepted increased the probability that individuals would decide to engage in risky behaviors themselves.

Beginning in FFY 2018, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board (TRB) is facilitating most new research projects through the Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Project (BTSCRP). (The name of the program was changed to BTSCRP in 2017 to clarify its purpose and to distinguish it from other TRB research programs.)

The No Boundaries pooled fund project (#TPF-5(330) is a community of practice for roadway maintenance professionals around the country. The group identifies innovative technologies and practices used by state DOTs and then promotes their use by other states through an innovations database, educational webinars, marketing materials, and other technology transfer efforts.

This final report provides the final drafts of four proactive traffic safety communication tools that can be used to communicate and integrate proactive traffic safety into existing traffic safety efforts. The communication tools include: a proactive traffic safety primer, PowerPoint presentation, conversation guide, and poster.

The Center developed a model based on the theory of planned behavior to predict bystander engagement to prevent someone from driving after drinking. Partnering with the University of Idaho, the team implemented a statewide community survey and validated the model with the results of the survey. The model was then used to inform messaging to increase bystander engagement, including a pilot implementation of the strategy in three communities in Idaho. The goal is to transform how communities approach impaired driving and leverage the strong positive norms surrounding this issue.

The project is led by a strong, local coalition (The Motor Vehicle Safety Action Committee) and has engaged several businesses in a pilot project. The strategy is to foster a workplace culture that supports bystander engagement, so that employees are more likely to speak up and address unsafe behaviors by their coworkers. An initial baseline survey (based on the theory of planned behavior) has been completed and used to inform the development of workplace media to correct misperceived norms.

The Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) National Strategy on Highway Safety aims to encourage change in the traffic safety culture in the United States among road users. If road users learn to make safety-driven decisions related to how they drive, walk, cycle, and ride, it may result in recognition of potential safety impacts on road users and improve traffic safety—reducing deaths and injuries. The first step in establishing a strategic approach that will affect change is to develop an operational definition of traffic safety culture that state transportation agencies and their traffic safety partners can use to enable sustainable improvements in traffic safety for all road users.

NHTSA works with State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO) and law enforcement agencies across the country to employ the training and enforcement methods that best address driving behaviors likely to contribute to crashes.

The Center for Health and Safety Culture will design and implement a survey in Bozeman, MT and Fargo, ND to characterize the traffic safety culture of groups defined by a preferred mode of transportation regarding behavior interactions with other modes that can increase conflicts affecting mode safety. Basic analysis will produce individual summary reports of key results with recommendations for strategies to increase support and engagement in alternative commuting modes. This work is funded by the US Federal Highway Administration.

Cannabis use by U.S. adults has increased by 50% over the last decade, and over the same period, cannabis use by drivers has increased by an estimated 8 -12%. Cannabis impairs psychomotor functions that can impair driving ability, which in turn may increase crash risk. As a result, drug-impaired driving is a growing traffic concern. While traditional approaches have focused on enforcement and education, another approach is to build a positive traffic safety culture, which can be described as shared values and beliefs that influence safe driving decisions. Through this project, the Center for Health and Safety Culture will conduct research to develop a better understanding of belief systems that predict intention to drive after using cannabis. The research will include surveys of cannabis users and non-cannabis users in the state of Washington. The findings will guide the development of culture-based interventions and strategies to sustainably reduce impaired driving.

Bicyclist safety is a growing concern as more adults use this form of transportation for recreation, exercise, and mobility. Most bicyclist fatalities result from a crash with a vehicle. Often, the behaviors of the driver are responsible for the crash. Method: This survey study of Montana and North Dakota residents (n = 938) examined the influence of traffic safety culture on driver behaviors that affect safe interactions with bicyclists. Results: Prosocial driver behavior was most common and appeared to be intentional. Intention was increased by positive attitudes, normative perceptions, and perceived control. However, normative perceptions appear to offer the most opportunity for change. Practical Application: Strategies that increase perceptions that prosocial driver behavior is normal may increase prosocial intentions, thereby increasing bicyclist safety.

The cultural approach to traffic safety is a new research perspective which has emerged recently, especially in the US. It is part of the safe systems approach in recent safety research.

This program is a cooperative effort of participating state DOTs and other (traditional and non-traditional) organizations with a vested interest in traffic safety. This long-term partnership will support an evolving and integrated project portfolio developed and revised each year by the partners, and complimentary to other related research activities, such as NCHRP 17-69: A Strategic Approach to transforming Traffic Safety Culture to reduce Deaths and Injuries. Together, these projects will accelerate the development and delivery of tools and services to transform the national, state, and community level traffic safety culture. The goal of this transformation is to support the Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) vision with sustainable traffic safety solutions.

There is growing interest in “traffic safety culture” (TSC) as a key factor to manage and sustain safe roadway transportation systems, especially as more jurisdictions adopt targets of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries. However, the theory, terminology, and methods involved in addressing TSC come from human and social science disciplines that are not typically included in traditional traffic safety, engineering, or other behavioral change agencies (e.g., departments of transportation, driver's licensing, motor vehicle records, etc.). The lack of shared language and understanding about TSC limits the ability of agencies to explore this topic and engage new stakeholders. Additionally, the variation in the interpretation and implementation of TSC strategies has resulted in no consensus about best practices. Communication tools that develop shared language and understanding about traffic safety culture and its relationship to vision zero goals are needed. This final report summarizes the TSC Primer and supporting toolkit developed to address this need.

Understanding the attitudes and beliefs of law enforcement leaders and officers regarding traffic safety is critical to growing a positive traffic safety culture and ultimately achieving a goal of zero deaths on the nation’s roadways.

AASHTO and NCHRP identify scan topics, based on suggestions submitted by state DOTs and FHWA. Each scan is planned and conducted with a scan team chair (or co-chairs) and 8 to 10 scan-team members. A subject-matter expert, working with the scan-team chair and members, is responsible for (a) conducting a desk scan; (b) defining the appropriate duration of the scan, its technical structure, and other factors likely to influence planning of the scan; (c) preparing scan technical materials; and (d) supporting the scan-team's reporting of their experience and findings. AASHTO and NCHRP identify scan team chars and members.