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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:
  • 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:

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