Other Highway Safety Priorities Track Workshops

Multicultural Traffic Safety Outreach Efforts

This session will highlight good practices in designing and implementing traffic safety education programs for multicultural communities. Practical examples of how to address cultural concerns and the critical step of engaging diverse populations in program development will be discussed. Reaching the Hispanic community through community-based media campaigns will also be discussed.

Building Successful Traffic Safety Partnerships and Networks – in the U.S. & Abroad

This workshop will discuss how to build networks to expand the impact of traffic safety programs. It will showcase the results of an international award-winning program from Minnesota and a new effort in Spain linking cities together (Encuentro de Ciudades), as well as how coalitions at the local level can engage their communities to embrace differences, expand partnerships and work with multi-agencies to address motor vehicle fatalities effectively.

Safe Communities Core Principles

This workshop will provide a primer on traffic safety coalition building. It will give you the tools you need to reduce traffic related incidents and get your community up and going in the right direction. Learn how to sustain a coalition through successful marketing, grants writing and funding. Experienced practitioners will discuss the Safe Communities concept, how to create a community profile and problem identification statement using data-driven processes, build a core group, and identify and elect an effective board of directors.

Generational Shift: Reaching Young People in the 21st Century

As little as 10 years ago, no one would have predicted how quickly social networking sites or texting have become so ubiquitous. New technology has significantly changed how people, especially youth, get information important to their daily life, whether it's about the weather or safety messages. This workshop will explore how young people use media in different fashions today, and what you need to do to reach them.

Where Did All The Reporters Go?

Are press conferences becoming obsolete? Modes of communication are continuing to change and evolve at breakneck speeds and many traditional forms of mass media are losing circulation or going out of business. Pitching media in this fluid environment requires that practitioners stay up to date on new media forms and how that impacts the way people communicate. This workshop will explore how to understand these changes to ensure that your messages do not get left behind.

Making Your Community Safer and More Livable

This session will discuss how highway safety program involvement plays an integral role in the planning, development and implementation of new transportation systems. Often safety is the last component to be considered when planning livable communities. The Livability and Smart Growth movements are designed to create a more holistic approach that puts the needs of pedestrians and bicycles on equal par with motorists. Speakers will highlight how these movements are changing the culture of traffic to make it safer and more inviting for people to walk and bicycle in their community. Come find out how a strong relationship between planning and safety benefits the entire community.

National Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program - Lessons Learned

Over the past five years, more than $600 million has been allocated to states to organize SRTS state programs. This session will address the results of this national initiative, and will provide examples of how challenges and realities were turned into opportunities. Presentations will highlight national findings, updates, and case studies, this year's 2009 Oberstar award recipient for SRTS, and a success story in building capacity for safer routes to school.

Teaching Pedestrian Safety: A Child Development Perspective

Basic pedestrian safety habits are not complicated but teaching these good practices to children is a complex process. This workshop will explore research on teaching methodologies for children, and the implications for effectively teaching children about traffic safety. It will also include a new child pedestrian safety curriculum designed to meet the National Standards of Learning, along with a new child pedestrian safety resource, Teaching Children To Walk Safely As They Grow And Develop.

Resources and Tools for Older Driver Safety and Transitioning

There are a growing number of traffic safety resources and tools aimed at older drivers, their families and health and medical professionals. This session will highlight at some of these new products and their effectiveness along with strategies for their use with older drivers.

Medical Guidelines for Older Driver Safety

There may come a day when people do not develop health complications as they age, but for now, many seniors have complex medical issues that could impact their driving skills and ability as they grow older. There is no one size fits all model, however, and it's important to assess each person individually. This session will include a brief summary of the recently released medical guidelines for driver licensing administrators and a discussion of the strategies that NHTSA and AAMVA are using to encourage their adoption.

Motorcycle Safety Initiatives

Motorcyclist fatalities in the United States have continued to increase for 11 straight years, reaching a record high of 5,290 deaths in 2008. This workshop will highlight three projects being undertaken in the areas of research, rider education, and operator licensing. The results of the Motorcycle Crash Causation pilot Study will be discussed along with a discussion that will examine the on-going full Crash Causation Study. Discussion of the development of National Standards for Entry-Level Motorcycle Rider Training will focus on the standards that will be released in draft form in August 2010. The recently published Guidelines for Motorcycle Operator Licensing will be the basis for a discussion on promising practices for jurisdictional driver licensing agencies and outline the model Graduated Rider Licensing system.

Distracted Driving Program Initiatives

Over the past year, distracted driving has quickly risen to become a national buzzword - it was even named "Word of the Year" in 2009 by Webster's Dictionary. This workshop will address recent developments at the national level, including a proposed new grant program for states to enact laws to prevent distracted driving, and an update on legislative action at the federal and state levels. It will also introduce a new advocacy group, FocusDriven, created to specifically to raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and give a voice to victims and their families.

Working with State Legislatures to Improve Highway Safety

State legislatures play an incredibly important role in the effort to reduce motor vehicle-related fatalities; very little can be achieved without appropriate state laws and enforcement capacity. In these trying economic times, it's more important than ever to have strong relationships with your elected officials. This session will feature legislators and a safety advocate who works with state legislators to discuss how to how build and strengthen linkages with your legislators.

Lifesavers Conference, Inc. • PO Box 30045 • Alexandria, VA 22310 • 703-922-7944 • 703-922-7780 (fax)

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