Author: Hanna Hopkins

  • November 1st, 2019

Each year, the Thanksgiving holiday results in millions of travelers on the road, en route to and from their holiday destination. With your help, NHTSA wants to ensure drivers and their passengers are safe during this special time of year. During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 2017, there were 365 passenger vehicle occupants killed in […]

  • October 22nd, 2019

Governors and states more broadly are pivotal in the ongoing transformation of the transportation sector to one that is increasingly electrified. The transition necessitates decisions regarding a wide range of issues including education and outreach efforts, vehicle and charging infrastructure incentives, the location and specifications of public charging infrastructure, electrification corridor designations and signage and, […]

  • October 22nd, 2019

The unpredictability of weather conditions may have direct or indirect impacts on traffic operations and driver behaviors (e.g. speed, headway, and gap). The impacts may occur during or after the weather events, be of short- or long-term duration, and include direct and indirect effects. Adverse winter storms, flooding, or hurricanes may cause major delays in […]

  • October 22nd, 2019

Trucks move the economy, and they do a superb job. One- and two-day delivery wouldn’t be possible without the nation’s truck army. But when trucks are involved in a crash, the results are often disastrous. How do we make trucking even safer? I recently spoke to the National Private Truck Council (NPTC), which represents about […]

  • October 22nd, 2019

Crash involvement by 16- and 17-year-old drivers has decreased substantially over the past 15 years. This is largely due to the widespread adoption of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs and to the Great Recession, which substantially reduced driving by young teenagers. However, with one exception—New Jersey—GDL systems apply only to new drivers younger than 18, […]

  • October 22nd, 2019

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children, teenagers, and young adults in the United States (Subramanian, 2012). Graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems, first introduced in the United States in 1996, are designed to protect young novice drivers by restricting exposure to risk initially and then gradually phasing in increased privileges as […]

  • October 22nd, 2019

Obtaining a driver’s license was once widely regarded as a “rite of passage” for teenagers in the United States. However, only 36% of young people surveyed in 2012 by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reported having obtained their first driver’s license at or before the age of 16 and only 54% reported having done […]