Road User Safety

Texas A&M Transportation Institute
505 East Huntland Drive
Suite 455
Austin, TX 78752
(979) 317-2544
[email protected]

Laura Higgins is an Associate Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute Center for Transportation Safety. Ms. Higgins has experience in developing and conducting surveys, focus groups, and interviews with road users and with public and private-sector stakeholders, as well as conducting driving environment simulator, instrumented-vehicle test track, and on-road driver studies. She is also experienced with managing protocols and documentation pertaining to Institutional Review Board oversight of human subjects research.

Ms. Higgins has been the principal investigator on research studies conducted for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), and has managed data collection for research projects with TxDOT, NCHRP, the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program (BTSCRP), the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Houston Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and more. She has led and supported numerous Traffic Safety Grants for the Texas Department of Transportation. These grants have included outreach to motorcycle riders about the importance of safety gear and of avoiding alcohol when riding, to state and local traffic engineers about work zone practices that minimize risks to motorcycle riders, and to drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians about ways to share the road safely.