Transportation Safety
To help reduce the causes and consequences of traffic crashes, Westat has conducted numerous
studies concerning seat belt use, crash causation, driver distraction and behavior, speeding, alcohol use, and
aggressive driving.
- For the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Westat conducts an annual program to measure
seat belt and driver handheld electronic device use by conducting the observational field survey known as the
National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS). Conducted each year at approximately 2,000
roadway sites, this survey provides national and regional restraint use estimates.
- Westat also conducts a similar study of restraint use by drivers and other occupants of heavy trucks and buses called
the Seat Belt Use by Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers (SBUCMVD) survey. Sponsored by the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration, this annual survey is modeled on NOPUS.
- Additionally, the National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats (NSUBS) is based upon the NOPUS framework
and includes observations of child and adult restraint use. Interviews with the drivers collect information
on child age, height, and weight, which allows for a determination of appropriate child restraint use.
- Young teens have the highest crash risk of any driver age group. Westat has investigated teen
driver and parent attitudes and behavior regarding driver training and practice,
conducted surveys of teen driving behavior and risk perception, evaluated the effects of graduated
driver license restrictions, and analyzed the influence of passengers on teen driving behavior
and risk of crash involvement
- For NHTSA, Westat examined design features and effectiveness of enhanced safety belt reminder systems in
promoting belt use. The research included determining the efficacy of various belt reminder system design features by
correlating results of a nationally representative observational survey of belt use with the operational characteristics of
the belt reminder in each observed vehicle. It measured the acceptability of alternative reminder systems
in a driving study using an instrumented vehicle and evaluated teen acceptance of additional belt reminder display
strategies.
- Westat has conducted numerous studies related to driver distraction and attention. For NHTSA, Westat
is studying the willingness of drivers to engage in distracting technology use. In a National Cooperative Highway Research
Program project, Westat is studying the abilities of drivers to process information while driving and investigating
intelligent technology countermeasures to deter or mitigate distracted driving effects.
- For NHTSA, Westat evaluated the effectiveness of social marketing and enforcement programs to increase
seat belt use among young teen drivers in two states where there are seat belt use provisions in Graduated Driver
License programs.
- Westat studied the comfort and convenience factors that contribute to seat belt use or non-use among older
occupants of vehicles. The study focuses on both design issues and social marketing approaches to
increase belt use among people age 65 and older.
- Westat designed and conducted the Pilot Study of Motorcycle Crash Causes and Outcomes for NHTSA.
This project developed and tested data collection tools and methodologies for a subsequent investigation
of motorcycle crashes. It represents the first U.S. study focused on motorcycle crashes in over 3 decades.
- In studies for NHTSA and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Westat evaluated the
effectiveness of an ignition interlock program to reduce recidivism among repeat drinking-and-driving
offenders.
- For NHTSA, Westat developed improved police procedures to identify impaired drivers at sobriety
checkpoints.
- Westat was also responsible for designing and conducting the Survey of National Traffic Speeds, a field survey
of speeds for all types of motor vehicles on freeways, arterial highways, and collector roads. Conducted in both
2007 and 2009, the speeds of 11 million vehicles were observed using portable speed measurement devices during 24-hour periods
at a geographic sample of over 700 road sites in 23 sampling areas across the United States. Weighted estimates were tabulated
by road type, vehicle type, time of day, day of week, light condition, horizontal and vertical curvature, and urbanicity.
- Westat is conducting a substantial program of research for NHTSA on speeds, speeding, and other unsafe driving
acts. We have been involved in the following projects:
- Developing guidelines for traffic law enforcement agencies regarding speed enforcement programs and automated
speed enforcement systems operations;
- Evaluating the effect of setting and enforcing rational speed limits in seven sets of demonstration
and comparison communities;
- Evaluating the performance of a fixed-in-place photo speed enforcement system to reduce excessive
speeds on the George Washington Memorial Parkway near Washington, DC;
- Studying the use of automated speed enforcement in school zones and work zones; and
- Developing an automated photo enforcement system to catch drivers who illegally pass stopped school
buses.
- Westat conducted evaluations of the Smooth Operator Program (a regional multijurisdictional aggressive
driving enforcement program), with field measurement of traffic violations and other aggressive acts.
- Under an NIAAA grant, Westat designed and implemented a large-scale community intervention to prevent driving
while intoxicated. The project combined the following:
- Publicity campaign,
- 24-hour Safe Rides Program for alcohol-impaired drivers,
- Rewards/incentives program for designated drivers, and
- Annual assessments of drinking-and-driving attitudes and behavior.
For more information about the Transportation Research Area,
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