news>>safetrec mission and overview
SafeTREC, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, originated as the Traffic Safety Center, which was established in 2000. In 2009, the name was changed to SafeTREC to reflect the manner in which SafeTREC's mission has grown to encompass safety and travel risk in a multi-modal transportation system; a robust and diverse research agenda across multiple disciplines; and development and enhancement of curriculum, training, and outreach on the graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as for professionals and members of the community.
Our goals continue to be the reduction of transportation system related fatalities and injuries through multi-disciplinary collaboration with partner organizations in education, research and outreach. Motor vehicle collisions are a leading cause of death in the United States for all age groups and also pose significant injury risk. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for people between the ages of one and 34. In California alone, motor vehicle crashes kill nearly 4,000 people, injure 280,000, and cost approximately $15 billion each year.