Our intention for this Summit was to move beyond informative presentations and towards action on this important work. The role of culture in improving the effectiveness of traffic safety systems is critical.
This page is an archive providing access to presentations and other documents created for and by this event. Please feel free to contact our Center for Health and Safety Culture director if you have questions or would like further information.

2011 Summit Proceedings

    • AAA Rural Safety Center of Excellence (Introduction Video)

 

  • Safety Summit breakout session summary (View PDF)

2010 Summit Proceedings

Audio voice over, with presentations, for the Monday morning sessions are provided below. Basic pdf’s of each presentation, for viewing purposes, are also provided below.
The following presentations have been made available courtesy of the speakers and are the sole property of the originator (speaker/author). As such, they should not be used, modified, etc. without the originators express permission.

WELCOME:

    • Michael Griffith, Director, Office of Safety Integration, Federal Highway Administration
      NSRTSC 2010

 

KEYNOTE SESSION: RURAL TRAFFIC SAFETY CULTURE OVERVIEW
This session focused on the rural context and identifying the behavioral, social and political factors in rural areas that are responsible for (1) the high traffic fatality and serious injury rate, (2) the political reluctance to introduce strong traffic safety policy, and (3) the community resistance to government mandated safety interventions. The format involved three presentations by relevant organizations with time for audience participation and questions. The goal of this session was to focus participants on the rural context and provide background for the later sessions dealing with potential solutions to the rural cultural and institutional barriers.

    • Nicholas Ward, Professor, Montana State University/Western Transportation Institute
      Presentation (pdf)

 

    • Peter Kissinger, CEO, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
      Presentation (pdf)

 

 

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TRAFFIC SAFETY DRIVER CULTURE
This interactive session presented different perspectives on driver safety culture and engaged participants in dialogue related to challenges and opportunities for positively improving traffic safety driver culture – especially in rural areas. Participants began to engage in the process of developing a common framework to measure and apply behavioral change strategies predicted on traffic safety culture.

    • John Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison
      Presentation (pdf)

 

    • Larry Wallack, Portland State University
      Presentation (pdf)

 

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TRAFFIC SAFETY ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
There are many organizations that impact traffic safety – law enforcement, local and state road departments, tribal entities and federal agencies. From the top down, or from the bottom up, how can safety culture move through an organization? This session built upon ongoing local, state, tribal and/or national initiatives to discuss how to achieve and accelerate organizationally a change in traffic safety culture.

  • Henri Headdress, Fort Peck Reservation Roads Program

THE SCIENCE OF THE POSITIVE – FRAMEWORK FOR IMPROVING HEALTH AND SAFETY CULTURES
The Science of the Positive (SotP) is a theory of transformation for individual and collective cultures. Through decades of research and application, the SotP approach has evolved to become an holistic science-to-action framework for posing research questions and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention strategies. While numerous definitions of “safety cultures” abound, they all seem to operate from a common deficit-based perspective that essentially views “culture as a problem to be solved.” The most pressing need in safety culture research is to correct this misperception and establish a common positive framework for action. The Science of the Positive identifies three core domains that direct intermediate variables toward sustained cultural transformation of health and safety outcomes.

  • Drs. Jeffrey Linkenbach and Jerome Evans, Western Transportation Institute National MOST of Us Institute for Positive Community Norms, Montana State University
    Presentation (pdf)

Behavioral Breakout Session Presentations:

  • What cultural factors are perpetuating teen driver distraction and how can teen driver distraction be reduced by changing culture?
    B1 Breakout
  • What are the main differences in rural and urban culture that relate to the differences in crash risk between these regions?
    B2 Breakout
  • What are the cultural barriers to drivers accepting safety interventions (e.g., speed cameras) and enforcement programs (e.g., random roadside stops)?
    B3 Breakout
  • What can we do to change the culture of speeding?
    B4 Breakout

Organizational Breakout Sessions Presentations:

  • What Institutional changes should we consider to more effectively address rural traffic safety?
    O1 Breakout
  • How can we (and what specific steps can we) take to better understand and overcome the culture of complacency?
    O2 Breakout
  • What are the challenges and benefits of adopting a zero death goal?
    O4 Breakout
  • CLOSING KEYNOTE
    Dr. Ileana Arias, Principal Deputy Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    Closing Keynote

2009 Summit Proceedings

We completed a successful National Rural Summit on Traffic Safety Culture June 22, 2009 in Big Sky, Montana! Over 60 speakers, panelists, and attendees met to discuss the challenges of defining and improving safety culture. Presentations by leading national and international experts and advocates from different disciplines covered specific issues related to the definition, quantification, analysis, evolution and modification of culture. With the exception of the keynotes, each presentation was followed by a focused discussion between a panel of experts and the presenter in a public forum.

The following presentations have been made available courtesy of the speakers and are the sole property of the originator (speaker/author). As such, they should not be used, modified, etc. without the originators express permission.

INTRODUCTION

  • Welcome – Steve Albert, Director, Western Transportation Institute
  • National Perspective – Joseph Toole, Associate Administrator for Safety, Federal Highway Administration
  • Traffic Safety Petition  – Peter Kissinger, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
  • Traffic Safety Culture Introduction – Nicholas Ward, Western Transportation Institute

WHAT IS CULTURE?
Presentations on the definition and component factors of culture broadly and in the context of traffic safety.

    Panelists:

  • Rob Foss, Center for the Study of Young Drivers, University of North Carolina
  • John Lee, Human Factors Research, University of Iowa
  • Lawrence Lonero, Northport Associates

HOW DOES CULTURE INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR?
Presentations on models and evidence of how culture affects behavior broadly and in the context of traffic safety.

    Panelists:

  • Capt. Glenn Hansen, Howard County Police Department
  • Col. Mike Tooley, Montana Highway Patrol
  • Rob Foss, Center for the Study of Young Drivers, University of North Carolina

FUTURE CASTING KEYNOTES.
Keynote speakers identify new perspectives on modifying driver behavior by changing culture.

HOW CAN CULTURE BE USED TO IMPROVE SAFETY?
Presentations of case studies where culture has been used or changed to promote safer driver behavior and improve traffic safety.

    Panelists:

  • Robert Hull, Utah Department of Transportation
  • Bernie Arseneau, Minnesota Department of Transportation
  • Wes Lum, California Department of Transportation

CLOSING SESSION

  • MONTANA OVERVIEW – Jim Lynch, Director, Montana Department of Transportation
  • CLOSING REMARKS – Steve Albert, Western Transportation Institute

Additional Documents

Disclaimer: Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the event hosts or sponsors. Nor do the views and opinions of authors expressed herein necessarily state or reflect those of the event hosts or sponsors and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.