University Student Groups Start Peer-Based Driving Program

This is a graphic of the U in the driver seat logo

Impaired driving is a persistent problem in Texas, particularly among college students. A new peer-based program aims to change that — Texas A&M University-San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word have started the U in the Driver Seat (UDS) program, which organizers hope to eventually spread statewide. Car crashes are the number-one killer [...]

California High School Students Join Teens in the Driver Seat

This is a photo of a high school student speaking from a podium.

In the first public event announcing the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI)-developed Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program in California, Franklin High School students in Elk Grove conducted a news conference for Sacramento-area media Sept. 19. The students outlined their efforts in combating teen car crashes, which is the number one killer of teens [...]

Teens in the Driver Seat Honored With GHSA Award

Teens in the Driver Seat logo

The Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) Teens in the Driver Seat program has been honored with a 2011 highway safety award from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award. The Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Awards “recognize notable achievements in the field of highway safety by individuals, coalitions, organizations, nonprofit [...]

National Teen Driver Safety Week-New Information Released on Teen Drivers

tds

Washington, D.C.— According to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, teen drivers are approximately 50 percent more likely to crash in the first month of driving than they are after a full year of experience driving on their own, and are nearly twice as likely to crash as they are after [...]

TTI and PAHO to Collaborate on Roadway Safety Research

Eugenia Maria Rodrigues, PAHO/WHO Road Safety Advisor; Dennis Christiansen, TTI Executive Director; and Maria Teresa Cerqueira, Chief of the PAHO/WHO U.S. – Mexico Border Office.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) have partnered to collaborate on roadway safety research. TTI’s discussions with PAHO first began in 2007, when the organization expressed an interest in the Teens in the Driver Seat program. In April of that [...]

TTI Researchers receive awards at annual ITE meeting

Kay Fitzpatrick and ITE International President Robert C. Wunderlich.

The Traffic Engineering Council Technical Committee on Pavement Marking Patterns Used at Uncontrolled Pedestrian Crossings: An Informational Report was selected to receive the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE’s) 2011 Coordinating Council Best Project Award. Kay Fitzpatrick, research engineer at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), chaired the committee, and TTI Assistant Research Engineer Marcus Brewer was [...]

State Farm Grant Coincides with Deadliest Month for Teenage Drivers

Monthly Averages for Teen Fatal Crashes-2000-2009

State Farm has awarded a $100,000 grant to TTI’s Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS), making the company the largest corporate sponsor of the growing peer-based safety program for young drivers. The funding will go toward supporting the program in Texas. State Farm made its announcement on the eve of what is typically the deadliest [...]

Awards and More

Drink. Ride. Lose. billboard

TDS Honored by National Safety Council, Gains Partner The National Safety Council (NSC) has recognized the Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) program with its Teen Driving Safety Leadership Award. This is the fourth national award the TDS program has received. For most of its nearly 100-year history, NSC has focused on workplace and transportation [...]

Awards and more

State Rep. Larry Phillips speaks at a TDS news conference in Austin.

U.S. State Department Signs Major Contract with TTI In one of the largest contracts ever awarded to Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), the Crashworthy Structures Program has received a U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security pact that will provide up to $7 million in work over a five-year period. The contract calls for TTI [...]

Awards and more

Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering Kem Bennett and TTI Director Dennis Christiansen flank award winners Dallas Little and Roger Bligh.

Bligh, Little Join Elite A&M System Group TTI Research Engineer Roger Bligh and Senior Research Fellow Dallas Little were honored in December with two of the highest tributes awarded by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. Bligh was named one of only 71 Regents Fellows by the A&M System Board of Regents as [...]