Traffic Safety Culture: Training and Videos

Jay Otto, M.S., and Annmarie McMahill, M.S., hosted a webinar titled "Raising Safe Drivers – Parental Behaviors and Beliefs About Their Children Learning to Drive" and Nicholas Ward, Ph.D., and Jay Otto, M.S., hosted a webinar on "Guidance for Evaluating Traffic Safety Culture Strategies."

In this webinar, Dr. Kari Finley introduced a variety of communication tools that can be implemented immediately to build the capacity of critical stakeholders to grow proactive traffic safety. Proactive traffic safety is proactive behaviors demonstrating commitment to a safe roadway transportation system. Examples of proactive behaviors include: supporting existing traffic safety efforts, planning a safe way to get home before driving alcohol, speaking up about other people’s unsafe behaviors like driving distracted, establishing family rules like never texting while driving, and establishing workplace policies like always wearing a seat belt in a company vehicle.

The National Center for Rural Road Safety (Safety Center) was pleased to host Jane Terry, Senior Director, Government Affairs of National Safety Council and Jeffrey Lindley, Associate Executive Director and Chief Technical Officer of the Institute of Transportation Engineers for our May 2018 Webinar.

The National Center for Rural Road Safety (Safety Center) hosted a FREE, 1.5-hour online webinar.

TRB Roadway Safety Culture Subcommittee

The Center for Health and Safety Culture partnered with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) in support of their Target Zero goal by exploring the traffic safety culture underlying the increase in fatal crashes related to drivers using cannabis and alcohol. This webinar will present an overview of the methodology and key findings as well as discuss the suggested strategies and tools that were developed to help WTSC make effective use of the results from this project.

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.

This project page contains links to infographics, reports, webinars and presentations on the Key Information for DUIC policy.

Produced by Houston Police and sponsored by AAA Texas. This short film will help you better understand how distracted drivers changed the lives of four families.

Introductions to the concepts of an additional approach to making road travel safer. Covers a basic understanding of social environment, culture and integrated behavior. Brief discussion of how road safety culture is being used in rural communities. Produced by the National Center for Rural Road Safety, January 2016

We must use a Safe System approach to better protect Vulnerable Road Users and ensure safe roads for all. A Safe System addresses all aspects of traffic safety: road users, vehicles, speeds, roads, and postcrash care. We must make better safety investments, from road treatments, vehicle design, and collision-avoidance systems to strong traffic safety laws and robust education efforts to mitigate injury risks for all road users.

802 Webinars: A Roadmap for Safer Drivers
5.26.2021 Effective Roadside Messaging
Sgt. Jay Riggen, Vermont State Police
Lt. Tara Thomas, Vermont State Police

The Texas Traffic Safety Culture Survey was conducted to gain an understanding of drivers' attitudes. Researchers plan to repeat the survey in future years to measure changes in those attitudes.

In 2013, the Highway Safety Office of the Utah Department of Public Safety engaged the Center for Health and Safety Culture in a multi-year pilot project to reduce the significant disparities in seat belt use rates between Utah’s urban areas (with observed seat belt use rates at about 85%) and rural areas (with observed seat belt use rates as low as 55%). This webinar explained how the Together for Life Project promoted seat belt use in 7 rural counties by bolstering family rules, workplace rules, and bystander engagement (i.e., getting individuals to ask others to wear a seat belt) to increase both self-reported and observed seat belt use.

Changing behavior is difficult. In order to change behavior do we first have to change attitudes? Do attitude changes always lead to behavior changes? What are the key elements that should be considered when designing messages to change driver attitudes and behaviors? This session will address these questions, and review some of the current theory and trends in attitude and behavior change, and how they may be applied when developing traffic safety initiatives.