“Traffic safety culture” is a concept that helps explain observed differences in international, regional and demographic crash risk, as well as the propensity to commit high risk behaviors. It is possible to apply this concept to develop a new paradigm for traffic safety interventions. While traffic safety culture is gaining national recognition as the next paradigm to improve traffic safety, there was relatively little research being conducted in this area (at the time of this study).

This project proposed to conduct a pilot study to improve the understanding and application of traffic safety culture. Proposed topics for the pilot study included examining the differences between rural and urban drivers in terms of self-reported risky driving, and investigating the influence of the cultures of traffic safety organizations on the safety performance of state and national transportation systems.