News

Read the latest news and announcements from traffic safety interest groups and about traffic safety topics here.

  • May 19th, 2020

The purpose of this research was to explore candidate booster performance metrics that have the potential to identify less effective booster systems. A combination of volunteer testing of belt fit and posture along with dynamic sled tests of booster seats was employed to achieve the project goals. Posture and belt fit were measured in 24 […]

  • May 19th, 2020

EMS professionals have long served at the frontlines of our healthcare system, ready for any emergency. For nearly half a century, we have celebrated the dedication of our nation’s emergency medical services professionals during National EMS Week. This year we mark this occasion during a most extraordinary time. Instead of hosting awards ceremonies and recognition […]

  • May 15th, 2020

Bad assumptions make data from Weeks 1-14 insufficient. Please see accurate data from Week 15 forward.  It is Week 10 of the coronavirus pandemic, and total crash data is still showing a decline in Alabama. Overall, crashes declined to less than 40% of their pre-COVID levels, INCLUDING speed-involved and fatal crashes, but are now showing […]

  • May 15th, 2020

There are more fatal crashes during the days surrounding Independence Day than the rest of the year, according to an analysis of state traffic records by researchers at The University of Alabama. A study by the Center for Advanced Public Safety (CAPS) at UA showed that during the past five years (2015-2019), the five days […]

  • May 14th, 2020

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is proud to partner with WSP USA, Inc. and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in creating “The COVID-19 Pandemic: Public Transportation Responds: Safeguarding Riders and Employees.” As the only non-profit association in North America that represents all modes of public transit, our more than 1,500 member […]

  • May 14th, 2020

In 2019, seat belt use in the United States ranged from 70.7 percent in New Hampshire to 97.1 percent in Hawaii. Twenty-six States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands achieved seat belt use rates of 90 percent or higher. These results are from probability-based observational surveys conducted by the 50 States, the […]

  • May 14th, 2020

This project included four distinct but related exploratory studies of data sources that could improve roadway safety analysis. The first effort evaluated passively gathered crowdsourced bicyclist activity data from StreetLight Data and found promising correlations (R2 of 62% and 69% for monthly weekday and weekend daily averages) when the StreetLight data were compared to bicyclist […]

  • May 14th, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has likely impacted the U.S. economy like no other event since the Great Depression. Shelter-at-home laws, business closures and “social distancing” have dramatically affected every sector of the economy, from manufacturing to consumer spending. Recent economic analyses indicate that the COVID-related unemployment levels exceeded 20 percent in March 2020 – […]

  • May 8th, 2020

According to a NCSDR report (NCSDR): “NHTSA data indicate that in recent years there have been about 56,000 crashes reported by police annually that cited driver drowsiness/fatigue [Drowsy Driving, which we are calling DrD]. Annual averages of roughly 40,000 nonfatal injuries and 1,550 fatalities result from these crashes. It is widely recognized that these statistics […]

  • May 8th, 2020

Bad assumptions make data from Weeks 1-14 insufficient. Please see accurate data from Week 15 forward.  It is Week 9 of the coronavirus pandemic, and total crash data is still on the decline in Alabama. Crashes have declined to less than 40% of their pre-COVID levels, INCLUDING speed-involved and fatal crashes. View Graph This report comes […]