State Highway Safety Showcases

Rochester, Minnesota is located in Olmsted County and is the third-largest city in the state. Over the past decade, approximately 40 pedestrians and bicyclists have been hit by drivers every year in Rochester. Although these incidents account for only 2.3% of all crashes in the city, they result in 30% of all fatal injuries.

Dayton, Kentucky is a small and historic community on the Ohio River, across from Cincinnati. Residents often walk and bike for transportation. However, this is risky, as crashes can happen due to inadequate infrastructure and misinformation about road safety.

The Colorado Office of Transportation Safety partnered with Adelante Community Development, a non-profit organization focused on serving Latino families and entrepreneurs, to recruit and train teens as part of the Traffic Safety Youth Advisory Board. These teens were trained to be ambassadors and educated their peers in Commerce City about pedestrian, bicycle and other safe mobility practices. 

Between 2016 and 2020, more than 2,000 Oklahomans lost their lives on rural roads. Teen drivers in the state have a higher incidence of crashes than any other age group. As a result, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office (OHSO) partnered with several organizations to implement an evidence-based, statewide teen driver safety education program that also included enforcement.

Teen drivers 16-20 years of age in New York State account for a disproportionate number of crashes each year. Every day, approximately ten people are killed or injured in car crashes involving a teen driver. The leading causes of these crashes are excessive speed, distraction and driver inexperience. 

In Montana, Native Americans comprise 6.2% of the population but account for approximately 17% of the state’s motor vehicle crash deaths each year. A closer look at the data reveal that Native American drivers 20 years of age and younger are involved in 30% of these fatal crashes. To tackle this issue, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) developed the "Safe On All Roads" (SOAR) traffic safety program, which is managed by coordinators living in Tribal communities.

Missouri has more than 4,500 teenagers in foster care who often lack the resources and support to obtain driver education and training. Through a grant, funded by GHSA and Ford Driving Skills for Life, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) made driver education and training available to teens in foster care.

Through a grant from GHSA and Responsibility.org, the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety trained judges and case managers to use the CARS tool to aid in developing personalized treatment recommendations and more individualized sentencing decisions for DUI offenders, thereby reducing their chances of reoffending. Nevada’s goals were to increase education, awareness and the use of the CARS tool by providing two virtual and one in-person training.

With the legalization of recreational cannabis in Maryland on July 1, 2023, it is necessary that the state train officers to detect cannabis-impaired driving. Through a grant from GHSA and Responsibility.org, the Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) supported the expansion of green labs, providing law enforcement officers the opportunity to learn about the impairing effects of cannabis and detect cannabis impairment at the roadside. 

In 2021, there were 848 fatal crashes in Louisiana, 336 (39.6%) of which involved alcohol use on the part of one or both drivers. These crashes resulted in 369 fatalities, accounting for 39.5% of the 993 traffic fatalities during that year. Through a grant from GHSA and Responsibility.org, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission used the funding to purchase equipment allowing the labs to test every impaired driving blood sample submitted for analysis for a wider array of drugs, including inhalants.