Products & Services
GHSA offers a variety of products and services for both its members and the general public.
- Directions in Highway Safety Newsletter
GHSA’s tri-annual newsletter provides timely, comprehensive information about federal and state highway safety activities and initiatives. Members and Associate Members reach more than 2,000 individuals in the highway safety field by writing special columns and articles. - Washington Update Newsletter
The bi-monthly publication, available to GHSA Members and Associate Members only, details the latest highway safety events and activities from the nation’s capital. - Emails, Action Alerts and News Releases
Timely emails notify the membership of critical issues and important legislative and regulatory developments that affect highway safety. Action Alerts encourage GHSA members to take action on specific legislative or regulatory issues. News releases contain the latest Association activities or policy positions and are regularly covered by the national media. - GHSA Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting provides an opportunity to share information and network, learn about the latest safety developments in Washington and nationwide, and discuss new products and services with a wide variety of vendors. High-level federal leaders including the Secretary of Transportation, NHTSA Administrator, FHWA Administrator and the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board shared their views and interacted with GHSA members at the Annual Meeting. - GHSA Highway Safety Policies and Priorities
The Policies and Priorities provide GHSA member positions on a broad range of highway safety issues including the funding of federal highway safety programs, including occupant protection, impaired driving, motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian safety, highway safety data and other issues. This publication is updated in hard copy periodically and also posted on the GHSA website. - Special Reports and Publications
The Association produces numerous reports and publications on key behavioral highway safety issues. These include the Survey of the States series that examines traffic safety measures on a state-by-state basis. Among the issues the series has examined are: speeding, safety belt use, underage drinking prevention policies, aggressive driving, motorcycle safety and distracted driving. GHSA also releases timely, in-depth reports on Association viewpoints on topics such as the reauthorization of federal highway safety programs. In addition, GHSA has published a guidebook on legislative advocacy called Speak Up and a report on the structure of each state’s highway safety office (called State Profiles).
A new online publication called Spotlight on Safety was launched in 2010 that highlights a single highway safety topic. The inaugural issue focused on preliminary state motorcycle fatality data and garnered considerable media coverage. - Federally- and Private Sector-Funded Products and Services
The Association has also used federal and private sector funding to develop a variety of tools for highway safety offices and the safety community. Examples of this include publications such as Countermeasures That Work, Partnering with State Highway Safety Offices: Tips and Tactics for Success, the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) — a national guideline on highway safety-related data elements — and a series of community “how to” guides on reducing underage drinking. GHSA worked with the Department of Justice to provide training on underage drinking enforcement programs. The Association also developed training for state motorcycle administrators through a federal grant.
Additionally, GHSA has been the lead partner with Ford Motor Company Fund on the multi-million dollar Driving Skills for Life program. This comprehensive teen driving program has brought increased visibility to the teen issue while providing training to vulnerable new drivers. Working with State Farm®, GHSA developed the Occupant Protection for Children (OPC) guidelines. Working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), GHSA developed the assessment protocols for state OPC programs. With additional State Farm funding, GHSA developed a guidebook for states on multicultural outreach. A third State Farm-funded guidebook for states was published on teen driving programs. GHSA also teamed up with the Allstate Insurance Foundation to fund three states to develop teen driving safety programs in the schools.
GHSA has also gotten ahead of the curve on performance measures. Working with NHTSA, GHSA identified fifteen performance measures that states are currently using in the Highway Safety Plans and Annual Reports. GHSA also worked with NHTSA to develop numerous traffic records performance measures that states will use in their traffic records strategic plans and Section 408 data improvement grant applications. - Website – www.ghsa.org
Current GHSA activities and positions, publications, links to over 300 agencies and organizations, state law charts and best practices, among other things, are posted online in an easy-to-manage format. The Members Only section provides access to the latest news from Washington as well as information about Management Reviews, Special Management Reviews, legislative updates, etc. The website serves as an important resource for the membership as well as for federal contacts and media. - Annual Awards Program
GHSA’s annual awards program showcases the nation’s best and brightest safety leaders and efforts. Members and associate members nominate an outstanding individual for the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award, programs for the Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Awards and individuals for the Kathryn J.R. Swanson Public Service Award. Awards winners are honored at the Annual Meeting and receive national recognition. The entire safety community benefits by learning of these successful efforts and can emulate these successes in their community. -
Training
The Association provides training for new Governor's Representatives, Highway Safety Coordinators, and senior staff at its Executive Seminar. Additional training is provided on topical issues via webinars and at the Annual Meeting. (GHSA has conducted more than a dozen webinars in the past two years on management issues, communications concepts and other topics.) GHSA has also teamed up with NHTSA to provide communications training at national conferences on strategic communications. -
Member Services
In the past six years, the Association has developed a variety of tools for the members to help them improve the effectiveness and professionalism of their offices. Two planning templates – for the Highway Safety Plan and the Annual Report – were developed, along with a guidebook outlining a step-by-step procedure for producing the annual Highway Safety Plan. A monitoring advisory was produced which describes the elements of a good state monitoring policy and provides best practice examples of state monitoring policies. The Association also produced a model Policies and Procedures manual that can be adapted for specific state use. Another product is the MR Deadline and Reminder Table – a matrix that lays out every deadline and responsibility with which the State Highway Safety Office (SHSO) must comply. The newest product is sample position descriptions for 13 different positions typically found in a SHSO. The position descriptions can be modified to fit the needs of each state.
In addition to these products, the Association completed an extensive effort to analyze and redefine NHTSA’s Management Review (MR) and Special Management Review (SMR) processes. This resulted in consensus definitions and processes that are used by every NHTSA region. The inconsistencies between regions in conducting MR’s and SMR’s has been greatly reduced. GHSA has also established a Task Force to review every MR before it is finalized. As a result, states are being cited for noncompliance with federal regulations and policies much less frequently. -
Representation
The Association represents the members before Congress and with the Administration on a range of behavioral safety issues. In the past, GHSA has been called on to testify before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee – the two major transportation authorizing committees of Congress. Most recently, the Association testified before the National Surface Transportation and Revenue Study Policy Commission – the Commission whose recommendations provide the framework for the next reauthorization. GHSA’s influence helped shape the last reauthorization and resulted in increased behavioral highway safety funding for the states.
In addition, the Association is represented on many organizations that share the same safety interests and concerns about safety such as the Transportation Research Board and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and many more. -
Washington Office
Every state pays dues based on a combination of a fixed amount of funds plus funding according to a sliding scale that is based on the federal 402 formula. The dues support a four-person Washington office. GHSA dues are far less than other associations and haven’t been raised since 2005.