With speakers that include the administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the retiring state legislator known by many as “Senator Safety,” the 2012 Statewide Traffic Safety Conference in San Antonio June 4–6 is expected to be well attended.
“We are honored that NHTSA Administrator David Strickland and State Sen. Steve Ogden will be our main speakers this year,” Center for Transportation Safety (CTS) Director John Mounce said of the upcoming conference. The annual event attracts public policy makers, traffic safety practitioners, law enforcement, traffic engineers, public health officials and many other safety professionals from all over the state.
“The conference seems to become more relevant each year as we learn from each other and share what is new and what is working in other places,” Mounce said. “We all have important individual roles in traffic safety, but when we team up for a common cause, we can’t help but become more successful.”
According to the NHTSA website, Strickland, who took office Jan. 4, 2010, “has overseen the development of the first national fuel-efficiency program, helped establish ejection mitigation requirements for automakers, and brought national public focus to child passenger safety issues including the threat of heat stroke from hot cars and back-over deaths and injuries.” NHTSA is the nation’s principal agency dedicated solely to highway safety.
Ogden, who was first elected to the Texas Senate in 1997, authored the legislation that created CTS at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) more than 10 years ago. He is a strong and vocal proponent of traffic safety. Ogden recently announced his decision not to seek reelection after his term ends in January 2013.
This year’s conference theme, “Saving Lives: Nothing’s More Important,” was borrowed from a line in a speech Ogden gave at TTI several years ago.
The 2012 Statewide Traffic Safety Conference will begin with a welcome reception and exhibitor showcase June 4. The opening session will take place the next morning prior to a full day of numerous breakout sessions. Conference topics will include discussions and examinations of distracted driving, impaired driving, new speed limits in Texas, motorcycle safety, wrong-way driving and teen driving safety.
The closing session of the conference will be a round-table discussion by invited Texas legislators on what they believe will be the main traffic safety issues for the 2013 Legislative Session.
For more information, visit the conference website.