Building the Road Safety Profession in the Public Sector Special Report 289 (2007) / Chapter Skim
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5 Summary Assessment and Recommendations
5 Summary Assessment and Recommendations
Pages 73-84
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From page 73... ...
They regulate motor vehicle safety features, educate and license drivers, fund and manage safety research, and establish 73
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From page 74... ...
The many public agencies that have key safety responsibilities are dispersed widely, both within and across jurisdictions. Such decentralization and fragmentation have long presented a challenge to concerted safety management and to a road safety workforce that is also scattered.
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From page 75... ...
In contrast, most local highway agencies do not employ a single full-time safety specialist. Road Safety Professionals Must Possess a Common Body of Knowledge and Skills Because they are few in number in most public agencies, road safety professionals must apply their knowledge and skills effectively.
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From page 76... ...
Many safety professionals entered the field during the 1960s and 1970s, following federal highway safety legislation and program expansions. For most of these workers, safety expertise was obtained through work experience and from continuing education and periodic training opportunities during the course of their careers.
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From page 77... ...
Career Advancement in the Road Safety Profession Is Limited Although entire agencies, such as NHTSA and FMCSA, have safety as their primary mission and employ hundreds of full-time safety professionals, the organizational charts of state transportation departments, motor vehicle administrations, planning organizations, public health departments, county road commissions, and state highway patrols contain few top management positions with safety in the title. While some of these agencies have safety offices or divisions, their leaders rarely have safety backgrounds or career paths that progressed through safety units.
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From page 78... ...
The Need for Road Safety Professionals Is Growing The United States, like most industrialized nations, faces a challenge in maintaining a downward trend in motor vehicle fatalities as travel increases. Road safety professionals will require a better understanding of the factors contributing to crashes and their severity, innovative and scientific approaches to finding and evaluating solutions, and greater sophistication in implementing these solutions.
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From page 79... ...
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Governors Highway Safety Association Should Forge a Broad-Based Alliance to Advance the Road Safety Profession The committee recommends the creation of a broad-based alliance to advance the road safety profession. States and their national associations
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From page 80... ...
They plan, design, build, operate, and maintain large portions of the highway infrastructure; pass and enforce traffic safety laws; regulate driver instruction and licensing; and administer statewide programs aimed at encouraging safe driving behavior. States employ thousands of road safety professionals and must have a central role in any effort to develop the profession.
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From page 81... ...
• Commend and publicize public agencies that are leading the way in recruiting, developing, and sustaining a professional road safety work force, including those providing comprehensive education and training opportunities and desirable career paths for safety professionals. • Encourage the continued development and more widespread use of core competency definitions to guide the education, training, and promotion of road safety professionals.
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From page 82... ...
• Advocate support for science-based safety research to inform road safety professionals and to attract top faculty and students to the field from many disciplines. The alliance could seek the creation of schol arships, internships, training grants, endowed university chairs, and research centers across the disciplines contributing to road safety.
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From page 83... ...
Overcoming the lack of comprehensive road safety education and training programs covering the core competencies may require additional steps. The alliance could explore the establishment of one or more specialized education and training institutes to provide comprehensive instruction and training for road safety professionals.
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From page 84... ...
84 Building the Road Safety Profession in the Public Sector recommended alliance of interest is created, it could draw attention to the need for professionalizing road safety management, which would advance the profession and its positive influence on safety. Federal, state, and local governments are becoming more aware of the need for sciencebased and systems-level approaches to safety management.
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