Road User Behavior

2022 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Fact Sheet: Pedestrian Safety

Katherine L. Chen
Bor-Wen Tsai
Garrett Fortin
Jill F. Cooper
2022
Everyone is a pedestrian, whether or not walking is one’s primary mode of travel. As a commute mode, walking is gaining in numbers. In 2020, pedestrian deaths accounted for 16.8 percent of all crash fatalities and nearly one-quarter (24.3 percent) of pedestrian fatalities involved a hit-and-run crash. From 2011 to 2020, pedestrian fatalities increased 46.2 percent while other traffic deaths only increased by 14.4 percent. From 2019 to 2020, pedestrian fatalities increased 3.9 percent, despite a 13.2 percent reduction in driving. Compared with all other racial categories, American Indian/...

2022 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Fact Sheet: Distracted Driving

Katherine L. Chen
Bor-Wen Tsai
Garrett Fortin
Jill F. Cooper
2022
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines distracted driving as activities that divert attention away from safe driving. This may include talking on the phone, texting, eating or drinking, manipulating audio systems, etc. According to the National Safety Council, cell phones remain a top distraction because of the length of time they are used by drivers on a daily basis.

The United States Department of Transportation uses the Safe System Approach to work towards zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries. The Safe System Approach recognizes that people...

2022 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Fact Sheet: Alcohol-Impaired Driving

Katherine L. Chen
Bor-Wen Tsai
Garrett Fortin
Jill F. Cooper
2022
While alcohol-impaired driving fatalities have fallen significantly in the last three decades, NHTSA reports that alcohol-impaired driving still comprises a large percentage of traffic injuries and fatalities. On average in 2020, someone died from an alcohol-impaired driving crash every 45 minutes. There was an increase in the number of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and rate per 100 million Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) in the United States between 2019 and 2020.

The United States Department of Transportation uses the Safe System Approach to work towards zero roadway...

2022 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Fact Sheet: Aging Road Users

Katherine L. Chen
Bor-Wen Tsai
Garrett Fortin
Jill F. Cooper
2022
The older adult population in the United States aged 65 and older is expected to almost double between 2016 and 2060, from 49 million to 95 million. In 2020, there were 6,549 people aged 65 and older killed in traffic crashes in the United States; this accounted for 16.9 percent of all traffic fatalities. Older drivers 65 and older involved in fatal crashes decreased by 9.8 percent between 2019 and 2020.

As drivers age, physical and mental changes including reduced visual acuity, increased fragility, restricted movement, and cognitive impairment may directly and indirectly result in...

New Publication - Highway Crashes in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights and Considerations

August 8, 2022
Submitted by Lisa Peterson
New publication provides insights on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on road safety in California

SafeTREC Co-Director Offer Grembek, former Postdoctoral Researcher Praveen Vayalamkuzhi, and Applications Program Manager SangHyouk Oum have co-authored a book chapter, "Highway Crashes in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights and Considerations" as part of the new publication "Pandemic in the Metropolis:...

Highway Crashes in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights and Considerations

Offer Grembek
Praveen Vayalamkuzhi
SangHyouk Oum
2022

This chapter describes the results of a short-term analysis of highway crashes in California during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has had an unexpected and abrupt influence on the demand for mobility. The effect of this was a drastic reduction in the level of activity on the roads. This level of activity defines the exposure of road users to crash risk and represents a focal variable in the sciences of traffic safety. The rapid rate of change in traffic that occurred during the pandemic, triggered a need to monitor highway safety at a higher frequency than what was...

SafeTREC Co-Director Offer Grembek presents at North Carolina Vision Zero Leadership Team Institute

July 7, 2022
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

On Monday, June 27, 2022 UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina Vision Zero held the 2nd Annual NC Vision Zero Leadership Team Institute. The event included a presentation with SafeTREC Co-Director Offer Grembek, "Safer Speeds: Considerations for Speed Limits and Management." safer roads, vehicles, speeds

In this presentation...

Course Announcement: Fall 2022 Public Health Injury Prevention and Control

July 6, 2022
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

Photo collage showing emergency responders at a car crash, a gun with ammunition, and a crashed bicycle and bicycle helmet in a crosswalk

Download Course PDF COURSE OVERVIEW

Injury is the leading cause of death for ages 1-44, and the leading cause of years of potential life lost up to age 65,...

California Traffic Safety Survey 2022: Speeding and Aggressive Driving Biggest Safety Concern

June 1, 2022
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to release the 2022 California Traffic Safety Survey led by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W). This study was conducted on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley.

Speeding and Aggressive Driving Biggest Safety Concern

Speeding and aggressive driving was the biggest safety concern for California drivers (75.0% of surveyed...

California Traffic Safety Survey 2022

Ewald, Katrin
Wasserman, Lisa
2022

Ewald & Wasserman Research (E&W) conducted the 2022 California Traffic Safety Public Opinion Study on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center of UC Berkeley (SafeTREC). Similar to previous years and since 2020, the data collection transitioned from an intercept survey to an online panel with survey panelists provided by Marketing Services Group, a commercial sample and panel vendor.

Panelists consisted of California drivers who were forwarded to an online survey portal programmed and managed by E&W...