Safe System

2025 series of SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts released!

October 27, 2025
Submitted by Karen Nguyen Vo and Cindy Chen
The 2025 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts series features the latest trends and data on various traffic safety topics, including pedestrian and bicyclist safety, drug and alcohol-impaired driving, and emergency medical services.

UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) is excited to announce the release of the 2025 series of Traffic Safety Fact Sheets, which feature traffic safety data and trends at the national and state level on twelve road...

California Safe System Institute for Road Safety: Executive Summary

September 30, 2025
Submitted by Reetu Pethani
Needs Assessment: California Safe System Institute for Road Safety

UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) has released the California Safe System Institute for Road Safety Executive Summary, highlighting findings from a statewide Needs Assessment conducted in partnership with Vision Zero Network and Fehr & Peers. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In the...

Safety Impacts of Vehicle Weight on Vulnerable Road Users

Safety Impacts of Vehicle Weight on Vulnerable Road Users
Research Team:

Matthew Raifman
Amalia Stahl
SangHyouk Oum


Funding Organization:

California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS)


Summary:

A person in a motorized wheelchair on a sidewalk in between a truck and SUVnd

(Photo...

SafeTREC's Griswold to present on Unified Safe System Implementation Framework at 2025 AASHTO Safety Summit

October 13, 2025
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

The Safe System Approach (SSA) is central to U.S. transportation safety. While progress is underway, it is often siloed and reactive. On October 28, 2025 SafeTREC director Julia Griswold will present a poster at the 2025 AASHTO Safety Summit and Peer Exchange in New Orleans, LA that proposes a Unified Safe System Implementation Framework combining concepts from public health, context-sensitive design, and kinetic energy risk management to address this. The matrix links SSA elements to...

Doctoral student Katarina Cook to present at AMA Research Challenge Oct. 22-23, 2025

October 13, 2025
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

Former SafeTREC visiting student researcher and current doctoral student at UC Davis School of Medicine and Institute of Transportation Studies Katarina Cook will be presenting the poster "At the Intersection of Hit-and-Runs and Homelessness: Pilot Risk Analysis and Postmortem Case Series" at the American Medical Association (AMA) Research Challenge virtual symposim. This presentation will highlight findings from a pilot study co-authored by SafeTREC director Julia Griswold and and research data analyst Liza Lutzker, that investigated how...

Pairing Speed Limit Reductions and Infrastructure to Lower Fatal and Serious (FSI) Crashes

Noelani Fixler
Melie Ekunno
2025

While recent California legislative reforms grant jurisdictions greater flexibility to lower speed limits, evidence suggests that reductions in posted speed limits alone are insufficient to meaningfully reduce crash severity. This research brief examines how speed limit reductions, when paired with infrastructure design, enforcement strategies, and contextual land-use planning, can more effectively lower FSI outcomes. Aligned with the Safe System Approach, the countermeasure layers of roadway geometry, lighting, bicycle-specific infrastructure, and enforcement shape driver behavior and...

Advancing Youth Helmet Adoption Through Community-Based Programming

Melie Ekunno
Lilette Gorostieta
Kris Leckie
2025

Bicycling provides youth with mobility, independence, and opportunities for physical activity, but head injuries remain a leading risk of biking-related crashes. Helmets are among the most effective tools for preventing serious injury, yet rates of consistent use among children and adolescents remain low and unevenly distributed across demographic groups. This paper reviews evidence on the social, cultural, and structural factors shaping helmet use and examines the role of school-based programs in promoting safer biking practices. Findings indicate that free and subsidized helmet...

Safe System and Vision Zero

SafeTREC research on Safe System and Vision Zero Assessing How Private Beliefs Conflict with Public Action on Safe Systems

This project will reveal and reconcile the sizable gap between what members of the public most want from their transportation system and what they believe others—including policymakers—want from the system. Research on pluralistic ignorance with respect to transportation investment priorities can aid in bridging the chasm between Safe Systems theory and practice, and signal to policymakers and the public that equitable and safe access to services and...

SafeTREC's Julia Griswold to present at the 2025 California Active Transportation Program Symposium

October 8, 2025
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

On October 23, 2025 SafeTREC director Julia Griswold will present in the "Telling Your Story: Crafting a Compelling Grant Narrative" breakout session as part of the 2025 California Active Transportation Program Symposium in Davis, California. This session will discuss how to highlight the major impacts of your projects: why it matters, who it benefits, and how the community will change in...

Join the SafeTREC Team: position open for a Program Coordinator

October 6, 2025
Submitted by Lisa Peterson
Work with Us!

The Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) is a multidisciplinary group affiliated with the School of Public Health and the Institute of Transportation Studies. Our mission is to inform decision-making and empower communities to improve roadway safety for all, with an emphasis on vulnerable road users in California. We achieve this by working with academics, government agencies, and community-based organizations. We currently have one position open. Please see the details below and upcoming review date.

Program...