Related Links

Links to organizations and resources related to rural transportation safety.

Federal

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
The U.S. DOT's lead agency in the area of motor vehicle and highway safety. Includes the following specific resources:

• National Center for Statistics and Analysis
  Nationwide information on traffic crashes and injuries

• NCSA's State Motor Vehicle Safety Information
  Quick facts for each state

• Traffic Crashes Take Their Toll on America's Rural Roads: The Need to Establish Rural Seat Belt Programs, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006

• Contrasting Rural and Urban Fatal Crashes, 1994 - 2003 (1.3 MB PDF), Mathematical Analysis Division, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2005

• Office of Emergency Medical Services
  Focuses on the areas of standards, education, systems, workforce, and a national EMS information coordination

Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Office of Safety
Works to reduce the number of crashes on U.S. roadways, and the severity of crash impacts, with a focus on highway engineering

State

Toward Zero Deaths
Toward Zero Deaths is a multi-agency partnership that includes representatives from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Minnesota State Patrol, Federal Highway Administration, and the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota. The goal is to raise awareness of traffic safety issues and to develop tools that can be used to reduce the number of deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents in Minnesota.

Academic

Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
The Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs ranks among the top 15 professional schools of public affairs at public universities in the country; our program concentration in nonprofit management ranks fifth in the nation. The Institute is widely recognized for its role in examining public issues and shaping public policy at the local, state, national, and international levels, and for providing leadership and management expertise to public and nonprofit organizations.

Center for Transportation Studies
The Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) at the University of Minnesota addresses the diverse and complex issues in the field of transportation through multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach programs. To accomplish this, the center serves as a resource and facilitator, helping University researchers develop new knowledge about transportation and then helping share that knowledge with practitioners and policymakers. Ultimately, this knowledge improves transportation decision making—meaning better and safer transportation systems, smarter investments, and a higher quality of life for Minnesota and the nation.

State and Local Policy Program
The State and Local Policy Program has been active in research and outreach since 1991 as part of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Its work focuses primarily in the areas of transportation technology and policy, as well as economic development and knowledge clusters.

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute
Conducts research, education, and technology transfer initiatives that focus on human-centered technology. The ultimate aim of this work is to enhance the safety and mobility of road and transit-based transportation. The Institute is a University Transportation Center (UTC) funded through the SAFETEA-LU, and a program of the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies.

HumanFIRST Program
The HumanFIRST (Human Factors Interdisciplinary Research in Simulation and Transportation) Program of the ITS Institute provides facilities – including an immersive, virtual-reality simulator environment – and expertise to study the interaction between people and transportation systems.

Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University is devoted entirely to graduate study, with eight academic schools and one independent department that award master's and doctoral degrees in 22 disciplines.

Traffic Safety Center
The Traffic Safety Center at the University of California Berkeley has teamed with UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies, Schools of Public Health and Optometry, Department of Civil Engineering, centers at other Universities in California, and public and private agencies to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries through multi-disciplinary collaboration in education, research, and outreach. In addition, the Traffic Safety Center is working to strengthen the capability of state, county, and local governments, academic institutions, and local community organizations to enhance traffic safety through research, curriculum and material development, outreach, and training for professionals and students. The Center's core activities are: courses, seminars, and workshops; research and evaluation; and information dissemination. Funding is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) is an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, university research center of Virginia Tech. VTTI was established in August 1988 in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation's University Transportation Centers Program, and in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation. VTTI pursues its mission by encouraging research, attracting a multidisciplinary core of researchers, and educating students in the latest transportation technologies through hands-on research and experience. The institute is both a FHWA/FTA ITS Research Center of Excellence and a Mid-Atlantic University Transportation Center.

Mountain-Plains Consortium
The Mountain-Plains Consortium (MPC) is a national resource and focal point for the support of research and training concerning the transportation infrastructure and the movement of passengers and freight. The program aims to attract the nation's best talent to the study of transportation and to develop new strategies and concepts to effectively address transportation issues. The MPC is a A Center of Excellence for Rural and Intermodal Transportation.

Non-profit

New England Transportation Institute & Museum
The New England Transportation Institute and Museum, located at the Amtrak passenger station in downtown White River Junction, Vermont, celebrates the Upper Valley's rich storehouse of river, rail, and air history.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Vehicle ratings, consumer brochures and videos, statistics, and the Status Report newsletter

Governors Highway Safety Association
Focuses on the behavioral components of highway safety, including occupant protection, impaired driving and speed enforcement

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
A non-profit, charitable educational and research organization dedicated to saving lives and reducing injuries on the roads

RuralTransportation.org
The National Association of Counties (NACo) and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) created this "resource tool for rural transportation stakeholders, including local elected officials and regional development professionals."

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
An alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America's roads safer. Resources include the 2007 Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws which identifies gaps in state highway safety laws.

Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan: A Guide for Enhancing Rural Emergency Medical Services
Transportation Research Board NCHRP Report 500, Vol. 15
Provides strategies to enhance rural emergency medical services.