Peter K. O'Rourke Special Achievement Awards

O'Rourke Award

The Peter K. O'Rourke Special Achievement Awards recognize notable achievements in the field of highway safety by individuals, coalitions, organizations, nonprofit groups, businesses, media, government agencies, universities or programs. Submissions may include traffic safety programs, plans or legislation in areas including – but not limited to – occupant protection, impaired driving, speeding or aggressive driving, driver distraction, law enforcement, traffic records, emergency medical services and bicyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian safety.

2024 Nominations Are Open!

Nominations for the 2024 O'Rourke Awards close on Friday, April 5, 2024. The awards will be presented during the GHSA 2024 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, September 7-11.

Submit a Nomination

2023 Awards

The 2023 O'Rourke Awards were presented to the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, ECU Health Medical Center and Flagman Inc. during the GHSA 2023 Annual Meeting in New York City.

Past Winners

Joseph A. Farrow
California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joseph A. Farrow spearheaded the implementation of the successful P.U.R.S.U.E. roll-call training video in California.

EASY

Eliminating Alcohol Sales to Youth (E.A.S.Y.) – ParentsEmpowered.org is a unique program that works toward eliminating underage drinking in Utah through total community mobilization.


Fresno Police Department
Under the leadership of Chief Jerry Dyer, the Fresno Police Department has worked to reduce fatal and injury collisions through its H.E.A.R.T. (Help Eliminate Alcohol Re-Offender Team) project.

Century Council
The Century Council is a nonprofit group of alcohol distillers dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking. The Council develops and implements innovative programs.

Smooth Operator

The Mid-Atlantic area has some of the worst traffic congestion in the country. This congestion breeds frustration-and aggressive driving behavior that plays a part in thousands of crashes, deaths and injuries in the region every year.


Marshall Jespersen
The Massachusetts Auto Dealers Charitable Foundation established SkidSchool Advanced Driver Training, providing a unique hands-on course in accident avoidance for emergency situations.

Governor Ernest L. Fletcher
In 2005, Kentucky experienced the most fatalities on its highways since 1973. Governor Ernie Fletcher responded to this tragedy by making highway safety one his highest priorities.

Wayne County Sheriff's Office
The Last Call Unit was established because the Wayne County Sheriff's staff found that there were more than 7,000 failure-to-appear warrants stemming from alcohol-related driving offenses in this Michigan county.

TACT Project
The Washington Traffic Safety Commission's (WTSC) Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) Project addressed the behavior of passenger vehicle drivers who drive aggressively near commercial vehicles.

RADD Youth Coalition
The RADD Youth Coalition was formed in 2004 to bring together diverse partners and develop widespread dissemination of HBO Family documentary SMASHED: Toxic Tales of Teens and Alcohol.

Pete Booker
Julian "Pete" Booker, President and CEO, and all of Delmarva Broadcasting Company are committed to improving teen driving safety in Delaware through the Smart Drive program.

Meharry-State Farm
The Meharry–State Farm Alliance (MSFA) was established in 2002 to reduce the large number of injuries and deaths among African American motorists by eliminating racial disparities in safety belt use.

Santa Monica Police Department
The pedestrian safety program Be Safe, Be Seen, sponsored by the Santa Monica Police Department, resulted in zero pedestrian deaths and a 21 percent decrease in pedestrian traffic injuries.

North Central Highway Safety Network
Through the efforts of the North Central Highway Safety Network's statewide highway safety initiative Buckle Up PA, safety belt use in Pennsylvania climbed to 82 percent.

Idaho Transportation Department
The Office of Traffic and Highway Safety in Idaho created the Idaho Mobile Program for Accident CollecTion (IMPACT 2K), software designed to complete crash reports electronically