Driving Change: Insights from the 2024 Lifesavers Conference

Anthony Lam, NTSB Transportation Safety Specialist, Office of Safety Recommendations and Communications

Attendees stepped into the world of road safety innovation and collaboration at last week’s Lifesavers Conference 2024 in Denver, Colorado. Each year, experts, advocates, and policymakers convene at Lifesavers to tackle pressing issues shaping the future of safer roadways. From combating impaired driving to ensuring equitable access to cutting-edge vehicle technology, NTSB staff presented and moderated a variety of workshops that offered invaluable insights and strategies for creating a safer tomorrow.

NTSB staff at 2024 Lifesavers Conference exhibit booth

NTSB Transportation Research Analyst Dr. Ryan Smith’s presentation, “The Oral Fluids Factor: Roadside & Evidential Testing to Reduce Drug-impaired Driving,” shed light on the rising interest in using oral fluid testing in roadside and evidential testing for drug impairment. With the landscape of cannabis legalization evolving and concerns about drugged driving escalating, the timing couldn’t be more crucial. Attendees gained insights into the nuances between preliminary and evidential testing, the mechanics of roadside testing, and the outcomes from states already implementing oral fluid testing. Discussions encompassed emerging challenges such as detecting novel drugs, ongoing research, and legal hurdles faced by states.

In 2022, we released a safety research report titled, Alcohol, Other Drug, and Multiple Drug Use Among Drivers, which found oral fluid is a valuable—but underused—biological specimen for detecting drug use by drivers. The report also recommended states modify their impaired-driving laws, if they have not already, to allow for oral fluid drug testing. Smith pointed this out in his presentation, adding, “It [oral fluid testing] can play a key role in supporting the enforcement of impaired-driving laws.”

Dr. Ryan Smith, Transportation Research Analyst, Office of Research and Engineering

Smith also organized and moderated the session, “Brave New World in Cannabis Detection,” which brought together leading-edge researchers in the field of cannabis detection. Cannabis impairment is a critical issue, and researchers discussed novel ways that cannabis use can be detected in drivers. In his opening remarks, Smith stated: “More than half of the US population now lives in a state where cannabis has been legalized. Recent NTSB research demonstrates the high prevalence of cannabis use among drivers, second in prevalence only to alcohol. Effective methods for detecting signs of cannabis impairment are critical for getting impaired drivers off our nation’s roadways.”

NTSB Office of Highway Safety Program Manager Ellen Lee gave a presentation on the dangers of speeding titled, “Not so Fast & Furious – Channeling Our Energy to Prevent Speed-related Fatalities,” which highlighted the urgent need to address speed-related fatalities through a comprehensive approach. Lee talked about the NTSB’s recent recommendations from our investigation of a crash in North Las Vegas, Nevada, where speeding and speeding recidivism were key.

Ellen Lee, Program Manager, Office of Highway Safety

Lee emphasized our findings that the driver in the crash was impaired and had received seven recent speeding offenses in the 5 years before the crash. “Despite repeated law enforcement actions, the driver’s record was inaccurate (showing only one speeding violation) and local courts treated this driver as a new offender for each violation,” Lee said.

Drawing from NTSB crash investigations and real-world examples, attendees learned about effective countermeasures and community engagement strategies. From leveraging data insights to advocating for vehicle safety technologies and infrastructure enhancements, the workshop underscored the importance of collaboration to curb excessive speed and protect lives on the road.

NTSB Safety Advocate Leah Walton moderated a thought-provoking discussion in her session, “A Safe System Approach to Address Impaired Driving” exploring where and how impaired driving fits into the five pillars of the Safe System Approach. Walton and her panel explored the multifaceted challenges posed by impaired driving, particularly concerning polysubstance impairment. Attendees gained a deeper understanding of the prevalence and risks associated with this behavior, along with potential policy interventions and enforcement strategies.

Leah Walton, Safety Advocate, Office of Safety Recommendations and Communications

In Walton’s opening remarks, she emphasized, “We cannot have a safe system while impaired driving is killing over 13,000 people a year. To achieve zero fatalities, we must expand our view of impaired-driving prevention through the Safe System lens.” With an emphasis on partnership-building at both the state and national levels, the workshop provided a roadmap for stakeholders to tackle impaired driving head-on and enhance road safety.

Stephanie Shaw, NTSB Management Analysis Officer, moderated the session, “Safety for All: How Vehicle Technology Addresses Underserved Populations.” Exploring design considerations, benefits, and challenges, attendees learned ways to extend these advancements to underserved populations. Shaw emphasized the importance of building a system that guarantees safe transportation for all who use it, regardless of socioeconomic status or mode of travel, whether it be personal vehicle, bike, walking, rolling, hailing a rideshare or an autonomous shuttle service, or taking public transportation. This sentiment encapsulated the overarching theme of inclusivity and accessibility discussed throughout the workshop.

Stephanie Shaw, Management Analysis Officer, Office of Railroad, Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials Investigations

The Lifesavers Conference serves as a catalyst for meaningful dialogue and collaboration in advancing road safety initiatives. By harnessing innovation, data-driven approaches, and community engagement, attendees are empowered to drive tangible change and create safer roads for everyone. We hope to continue these important dialogues at next year’s Lifesavers Conference in Long Beach, California!

Traffic Safety Through a Public Health Lens

By Sophia Peerzada, Safety Advocate

On March 28th, I moderated a webinar titled “Traffic Safety Through a Public Health Lens.” This joint effort between the NTSB and the American Public Health Association (APHA) ahead of National Public Health Week highlighted traffic safety as a public health issue.

This topic is very important to me as a transportation safety advocate with a degree in public health. When I was studying for my Master of Public Health degree at the University of South Florida, I was the only student in my program (that I knew of) who was interested in traffic safety. I was motivated by the Tampa Bay region’s regrettably high rates of traffic-related fatalities, and the perceptible imbalance of safety interventions along socioeconomic lines. I also knew the statistics nationwide: each year, 43,000 people die on US roadways. I thought, of course this is a public health issue—people are getting hurt and dying on our roads each day!  

Since joining the NTSB in November 2023, I have had the pleasure of meeting folks who bring a public health mindset to transportation safety. In fact, the NTSB itself plays a significant role in public health by identifying transportation safety issues and issuing recommendations to make travel safer for the public.

Prior to the webinar, I connected with former NTSB Vice Chair T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, who notably referred to traffic fatalities as an “epidemic on wheels.” Of course, I was thrilled when Dr. Dinh-Zarr and public health colleagues Dr. Kathleen Carlson, Dr. David Ederer, and Dr. Mighty Fine agreed to be panelists on this first-of-its-kind webinar.

Each panelist brought an invaluable perspective to the conversation.

Dr. Carlson, a professor of epidemiology at the Oregon Health and Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health and core investigator at the Portland VA, opened the event with a review of injury epidemiology. She explained that “public health takes a scientific approach to a public health problem” as it seeks to identify the problem’s cause and develop strategies for preventing it from happening again.

Dr. Ederer, an epidemiologist at the CDC’s Physical Activity and Health Branch, followed with a presentation on the Safe Systems Pyramid and how public health principles can be applied to engineering. His presentation underscored the need to apply traffic safety interventions systematically to improve population health.

Dr. Dinh-Zarr, Senior Advisor at FIA Foundation and the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, built upon Dr. Carlson’s and Dr. Ederer’s presentations by providing concrete examples of how the public health lens has been applied to traffic safety efforts. She highlighted the NTSB’s investigation process as an example of taking a public health approach to preventing the recurrence of traffic-related injuries and fatalities.

Finally, Dr. Fine, associate executive director of the APHA’s Division of Public Health Policy & Practice, rounded out the panel by emphasizing the need to apply a health equity perspective to all traffic safety efforts. He urged traffic safety practitioners to ensure that interventions are inclusive, accessible, and culturally relevant.

Overall, it was a wonderful and much-needed discussion that I am certain each attendee walked away from having learned something new. Dr. Ederer said it best in his presentation: “Public health is a way of describing and solving problems.” Given that, I think all of us in the traffic safety space are public health practitioners.

You can view the full webinar recording here: https://youtu.be/DMNxSFNANeI?si=FDR2BhF6vZXdJDut..

Marking World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

By Nicholas Worrell, Chief, NTSB Safety Advocacy Division

Sunday, November 19, is the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Every year on this day, people around the world honor the memories of crash victims. All of us at the NTSB want to express our condolences to those who have lost loved ones to motor vehicle crashes.

The NTSB works tirelessly to discover the cause of a crash and issue recommendations to prevent future crashes. From tragedy, we identify and advocate for improvements that move us toward a safer transportation system.

It can be said that much of the NTSB’s function is to remember, as we fight for the implementation of our safety recommendations even long after a crash. We remember crashes. We remember the recommendations that stemmed from them. And we never forget recommendations just because they have not yet been acted upon or because too much time has passed.

Similarly, victim advocates–those who have lost loved ones to senseless crashes–are often at the forefront of safety improvements, driven on by the memory of those they lost.

One of the better known and longest-tenured advocacy organizations, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, grew from a mother who lost her daughter to a national movement of victim advocates who support one another and work tirelessly to prevent future impaired-driving tragedies.

The In One Instant Teen Safe Driving Program was founded after a mother escorted her daughter to the funerals of three friends who were killed in car crashes. In One Instant has been implemented in more than 4,000 schools in all 50 states and educates young drivers on the risks associated with distracted, impaired, and reckless driving.

In 2017, the NTSB hosted the Act2End Distracted Driving Roundtable, which gave a voice to victim advocates impacted by distracted driving. Advocates spoke about turning their personal tragedies into effective advocacy efforts to prevent others from going through what they have endured.

It is not unusual for the NTSB to find itself supported by victim advocates in our quest for action on our safety recommendations. This goes beyond NTSB-hosted roundtables and webinars to our testimony in state legislatures about changes to the rules of the road. Why? Because, like the NTSB, these advocates remember, and they will not stop fighting for change until the highway deaths stop.

You don’t have to be personally affected by a crash to mark the World Day of Remembrance in your thoughts and in your actions. This World Day of Remembrance, commit to redoubling your attention to safe driving. To drive distracted, fatigued, or impaired is to forget the danger and impact our decisions can have on families, friends, and our communities.

Remembrance is not only an honorable response to tragedy, but a sacred duty to protect each other from future crashes and loss of life. Before you get behind the wheel, make sure you’re rested and sober. Put the phone away. Don’t speed. Remember that your life, and the lives of others, can be changed irrevocably by just one bad driving decision.

Remember those lost to protect the future of loved ones still with us.

Back to School – Safely!

By Leah Walton, NTSB Safety Advocate

The 2023-2024 school year is upon us, and parents all over the country are preparing to send their students back to school.

In the rush to gather back-to-school supplies, it’s easy to lose sight of what “back to school” means at the basic, literal level. Your student is going to school again, and coming home again, every day. How can they do that most safely?

The answer for most families is the big yellow bus.

The hours before and after school are the most dangerous times for students on the roads, but students traveling in school buses are the best-protected passengers on the roads during these times.

Yet not every student has access to the bus, so let’s review best practices for getting to and from school, however your student gets there.

On the School Bus

Less than one percent of all traffic fatalities involve students in school transportation vehicles.  In other words, students are more likely to get to school safely if they take the school bus instead of traveling by car. If your student can ride the school bus, make this your first choice. 

School bus travel is a resounding success, and it is getting better all the time, thanks in part to the attention the NTSB brings to remaining vulnerabilities in school bus travel. For further information about school bus safety, and the NTSB safety recommendations related to school bus design, watch our School Bus Safety video. If your student’s school bus is equipped with seatbelts, make sure to remind your students to buckle theirs.

But rest assured that your student’s school bus ride keeps them safe on the way to and from school:

According to School Bus Fleet, in the 2021-22 school year, an estimated 489,748 yellow school buses provided transportation service daily in the United States. About 20.5 million elementary and secondary school students ride school buses to and from school each day.  School buses are the safest way to travel to school, and even when they do crash, occupants of school buses are safer than other road users. Seventy percent of deaths in school bus-related crashes are occupants of vehicles other than the school bus, and 16% are pedestrians. Out of all recorded school bus-involved deaths, only 5% of those who died were school bus passengers inside the bus.

But our students must get onto and off the bus, and during these phases they are much more vulnerable. As parents and as citizens we must all work together to ensure the safety of students on their way to and from school.  Drivers and parents, be careful and keep your eyes on the road for our most vulnerable road users. If you approach a school bus with red flashing lights on and stop-arm out, STOP! And remain stopped until stop signal and flashing lights are off and the bus is in motion again.

According to the American School Bus Council, passing vehicles cause nearly two thirds of school bus loading and unloading fatalities. In the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services’ 2023 Stop Arm survey, 94,581 school bus drivers reported that 62,482 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day. Throughout a 180-day school year, these sample results point to more than 43.5 million violations among America’s driving public—don’t be that driver!

As Pedestrians

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), among the 206 school-age fatalities from 2012 to 2021, more school-age pedestrians were killed from 6 to 6:59 a.m. and 3 to 3:59 p.m. than any other hours of the day. Planning a safe route with your student is essential to their safe walk to and from school.

Map out the safest route for your student before school is back in session and practice it a few times. This will help them become familiar with the route, including any crosswalks or intersections they may need to negotiate, and allows you the opportunity to demonstrate safe walking behaviors.

• Choose bright colored clothing or outerwear for your student, ideally with retroreflective material.
• Consider creating a neighborhood group to walk together with at least one other student or older sibling.

As Bicyclists

If you have a student riding a bicycle to school, make sure you map out the route with them in advance, and practice as well! Make sure to remind your student of the rules of the road and to be as safe as possible.

Be sure your student wears a helmet and reflective gear! No matter how short or long the ride, wearing a helmet is important. It can cut the risk of head injuries by about 85% and facial injuries by about 65% among bike riders.

As Car Riders and Drivers

If you must drive your student to and from school, make sure all vehicle occupants are buckled up for every trip. A seat belt is the best defense in the event of a crash.

If your teen is driving to and from school, make sure they keep their safety and those around them in mind. As a parent or caregiver:

• Ensure their vehicle is in good operating condition – routinely have the vehicle serviced to ensure the brakes are working properly, there is adequate tire air pressure, and windshield wipers are in working order for maximum visibility.
• Be aware of how much sleep your teen is getting – teens need between 8-10 hours of sleep each night. Drowsy driving can be as dangerous as impaired driving.
• Limit the number of passengers in the vehicle to reduce distractions. In some states, it’s part of the Graduated Driver License law!
• Set the expectation that your teen driver put their phone away while driving. Hands-free cell phone use is not risk-free!
• Remind your teen of the importance of always following safe speeds, and never driving while under the influence of impairing prescription or illicit drugs.

We at the NTSB wish all students a safe and enriching 2023-2024 school year!

For more information on school bus safety, visit the NTSB School Bus Safety webpage.

Honor Traffic Victims with Action

By Chair Jennifer Homendy

50 million deaths. Hundreds of millions of injuries.

That’s the worldwide cost of traffic violence, in human terms. It’s difficult to comprehend fully, which is why the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is so meaningful.

This annual observance provides a time to reflect on the real people behind the statistics: mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, colleagues, best friends, and neighbors.

It’s a time to support those who’ve lost a loved one to the public health crisis on our roads.

And it’s a time to act, starting with NTSB recommendations.

Lessons from Tragedy

Since last year’s World Day of Remembrance, the NTSB has made 26 new recommendations to improve road safety. All remain open.

Where did these recommendations come from? They are the result of rigorous NTSB investigations into devastating crashes, outlined below. Each one is a lesson from tragedy, which is why we don’t rest until a recommendation is implemented.

At the NTSB, we believe the most meaningful thing we can do for victims of traffic violence is to advocate for our safety recommendations.

In other words: we choose to honor the victims with action.

Here are just some of the victims we’re remembering today — along with the recommended safety improvements to best honor their memory. 

Today we remember two people who were killed and seven who were injured in a Belton, SC, crash between an SUV and a bus carrying disabled passengers. The actions we demand on their behalf include the following:

• Ban nonemergency use of portable electronic devices, like cellphones, for all drivers.  
• Recruit cellphone manufacturers in the fight against distracted driving; they should automatically disable distracting functions when a vehicle is in motion.
• Provide annual safety training for people employed to transport wheelchair users.  
• Develop a side-impact protection standard for new, medium-size buses, regardless of weight — and require compliance.

We should honor the victims of the Pennsylvania Turnpike crash that injured 50 people and killed five others — including a nine-year-old child — by taking the following actions:

• Develop performance standards for advanced speed-limiting technology, connected-vehicle technology, and collision-avoidance systems — and require their use on new vehicles, as appropriate.
• Require newly manufactured heavy vehicles to have onboard video event recorders.
• Deploy connected-vehicle technology nationwide.
• Take a comprehensive approach to eliminate speeding. Among other measures, this means thinking long and hard about the 85th percentile approach and using speed safety cameras, which includes working to remove restrictions against them. 

Here’s what we must do to honor the three people who were killed and the 18 who were injured when a bus overturned in Pala Mesa, California:

• Require all new buses to meet a roof strength standard.
• Sponsor research into safe tire tread depths for commercial vehicles.
• Require seat belt use.

The best way to remember the victims of the Decatur, Tennessee, school bus crash that injured 14 people and killed two people, including a 7-year-old child, is to take the following steps:

• Make lap-shoulder belts mandatory in new school buses.
• Require lane-departure prevention systems on heavy vehicles.

And what about the nine people who died in a head-on crash in Avenal, California, on New Year’s Day — seven of whom were children? We must implement the following NTSB recommendations in their memory:

• Require alcohol-detection systems in all new vehicles to prevent alcohol-impaired driving.
• Encourage vehicle manufacturers to combat alcohol-impaired driving by accelerating progress on advanced impaired driving prevention technology and finding new ways to use existing technology, like driver monitoring systems.
• Incentivize vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) systems. One way to achieve this is to include ISA in the New Car Assessment Program. Notably, ISA became mandatory in July 2022 for all new models of vehicles introduced in the European Union.
• Develop a common standard of practice for drug toxicology testing by state officials.

Remember. Support. Act.

Even as we advocate for our safety recommendations, more crashes are occurring daily — which means more investigations. The work continues.

And yet, we cannot let the magnitude of the road safety crisis deter us.

We must keep fighting for zero, which is only possible through a Safe System Approach. 

We must fight for road users around the world who deserve to be safe.

We must fight for those whose lives are forever changed by traffic violence.

We must fight for those who are no longer here to fight for themselves.

For all these people and more, the NTSB will keep fighting. And so will I.