Center for transportation Safety

The Center for Transportation Safety conducts education, technology transfer and research programs to reduce the number of motor-vehicle crashes, particularly those resulting in fatalities and serious injuries on Texas roadways.

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What We Do

Survey and Measure

We prepare and perform scientific surveys and observe human actions as road users to understand the attitudes and behaviors that influence traffic safety.

Educate and Inform

We use insights gained from data analysis, surveys, and observational studies to prepare training programs and educational products material for safety professionals to help improve traffic safety.

Evaluate and Analyze

We design and conduct evaluations using traditional statistical approaches and innovative methodologies to assess current practice and suggest transportation safety improvements.

Activate and Encourage

We serve to activate and encourage members of our society through various initiatives and resources to help improve transportation safety for you and your loved ones.

Our Focus Areas

Motorcycles

We conduct multi-disciplinary research examining new approaches to improve rider safety and conduct public education and outreach campaigns to raise awareness of rider safety issues.

Impaired Driving

We coordinate our efforts with state agencies to provide a comprehensive and uniform approach to alcohol and drug education.

Trucks

Our researchers use statistical tools to identify top risk factors surrounding commercial motor vehicles.

Pedestrians

Improving safety outcomes for pedestrians through education, enforcement training, outreach and data-driven tools — especially for teens, transit users and campus communities.

Bicyclist

Our safety experts work with state and federal agencies to develop safety outreach programs intended to educate and urge road users to follow traffic laws and replace reckless behaviors with safe ones.

Children and Young Adults

Promoting lifelong safe transportation habits through targeted outreach, peer-led education, and programs that engage youth where they live, learn and travel.

Traffic Safety Analysis Tools

Our researchers use and develop state-of-the-art safety analysis tools to help save lives and reduce the number of injuries on our roadways.

Occupant Protection

Our team investigates and observes occupant behavior and attitudes toward seat belts usage, child car seats, and distracted driving.

Advanced Analytics

We examine how to best employ technologies to improve driver performance and safety, including technology that detects driver stress in real time and systems that can identify patterns in driver behaviors.

Workers

Our researchers develop recommendations to help curb work-related motor vehicle crashes for all road users.

Our Work

A person wearing a “Know the Risks” and “MY Pledge” shirt stands in front of another person using a driving simulator, with a road scene displayed on the simulator’s screen.

Youth Transportation Safety

The Youth Transportation Safety (YTS) area seeks to save lives and prevent injury among youth through education, empowerment, and peer-led outreach. Our vision is to ensure that America’s youth live long and healthy lives through safe practices on our transportation system.

A set of car keys, three white pills, several prescription pill bottles, a medication blister pack, and a bottle cap are scattered on a wooden surface.

Alcohol and Drug Impacts

The Alcohol and Drug Impacts area focuses on solving problems caused by the irresponsible use of alcohol and other drugs. This area’s Center for Alcohol and Drug Education Studies (CADES) provides education, outreach, and research related to alcohol and other drugs specifically as they relate to traffic safety.

A person wearing a black and white striped sleeve is holding a steering wheel, driving in a car simulator with a road and landscape displayed on the screen ahead and digital gauges shown on the dashboard monitor.

Road User Safety

The goal of the Road User Safety area is to understand driver behavior, cognition, and performance and then use that information to design and evaluate countermeasures to improve driver safety and reduce the rate of suspected serious injuries and fatalities. Most recently, we have focused on how drivers develop an understanding and increased trust in complex vehicle-based technologies and focused on conducting education and outreach activities with vulnerable road users.

A young girl with a backpack walks across a crosswalk toward a school, with a black Honda SUV stopped nearby and trees in the background.

Traffic Safety Attitudes and Behaviors

Using social science research methods, the Traffic Safety Attitudes and Behaviors area seeks to advance the expert and public understanding of social and behavioral issues important to transportation. The program addresses a wide range of safety issues that contribute significantly to the unacceptably high death and injury rates on our roadways, including misuse (and the lack of use) of safety belts and child safety seats.

A police car with flashing lights is parked near three officers and a civilian standing beside a red vehicle on a street, during daylight. The scene appears to involve a traffic stop or roadside discussion.

Traffic Crash Analytics

The Traffic Crash Analytics area aims to produce objective information that leads to a reduction of traffic crashes and their associated injuries and fatalities. Our researchers accumulate, synthesize, and conflate roadway data from a variety of sources, including state crash records, in-vehicle monitoring system data, connected vehicle data, and other secondary data to create robust models and statistical analysis. The team specializes in linking crash data with important contextual information (such as weather data, roadway characteristics, citations, and driver behaviors) and outcome data (such as EMS and hospital records for those involved in crashes) to better understand crash circumstances and outcomes. The Crash Analytics team translates research into usable maps, screening and systemic tools, and educational materials for drivers, engineers, fleet operators, law enforcement officers, and other stakeholders to make safety-driven decisions.

The Team

our Leaders