NCJ Number
240103
Date Published
2012
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This report briefly describes traffic safety innovations deployed by 10 agencies receiving awards in the 2011-2012 Challenge, which received more than 400 applications that contained many innovative traffic safety ideas.
Abstract
The 10 award winners selected for this report developed innovative approaches to bike/pedestrian safety, child-passenger safety, commercial motor vehicle safety, impaired driving, motorcycle safety, occupant protection, speed awareness, technology, and underage alcohol-use prevention. The format for profiling each of the award-winning programs consists of educational efforts and enforcement/protection measures. Program results are also reported, along with insights that will benefit other agencies. Regarding bike/pedestrian safety, advice is to partner with the community, make the commitment clear, and conduct educational presentations in smaller venues. For child passenger safety, the advice is to start with funding efforts, conduct outreach to various ethnic populations, and enlist the help of citizen volunteers at child-passenger safety events. Advice regarding commercial motor vehicle safety is to educate the industry about safety expectations and create accountability through enforcement, build trust with the trucking community by educating all involved, and create accountability with both roving and fixed on-highway enforcement and a comprehensive off-highway inspection program. Advice on countering impaired driving is to aggressively enforce impaired driving violations, train and motivate traffic officers, and ensure that traffic officers include local roadways in their enforcement efforts. Advice related to motorcycle safety is to circulate motorcycle-safety information, work with local riding clubs to get information directly to motorists, and apply for grants and involve local stakeholders in funding efforts. Advice in the area of occupant protection is to use crash data in targeting efforts and conduct year-round enforcement campaigns. Advice related to speed awareness is to pursue strong relevant legislation along with enforcement and education, as well as the use of data to identify speeding "hot spots."