National Center for Rural Road Safety

Virtual Mini-Conferences - Part 2

The National Center for Rural Road Safety announces their second ½ day, virtual, mini-conference on Applying the Safe System Approach for Rural. The mini-conference will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2026 and will consist of three separate 1.5 hour sessions with 30 minute breaks between them. The mini-conference will be free and will be recorded and available as an archive on our website.

For more details and to listen to the recordings, see below. 

Applying the Safe System Approach for Rural Mini-Conference Session 4: Safer Vehicles in the Rural Context

Thursday, April 30th, 11:00 am-12:30 pm ET/9:00-10:30 am MT

In this portion of the mini-conference, you will learn examples for applying the Safe System Approach for safer vehicles in the rural context. This includes:

  • Using vehicle telematics for A Data-Driven Action Plan for Safer Roads.
  • Integrating Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) into agency fleet vehicles and an overview of the newest practice of using it to deter repeat offenders.
  • Incorporating digital alerting systems into snowplows and maintenance vehicles to create a more robust traveler information app. This presentation will also include discussion of how the KanDrive app has expanded to CarPlay and Android Auto to provide in-vehicle safety alerts about upcoming work zones, closures, and slow-moving maintenance vehicles.

The presenters include:

  • Ryan McMahon, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development, Cambridge Mobile Telematics
  • Sarah Yahoodik, Engineering Psychologist, U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
  • Shari Hilliard, ITS Engineer and Bureau Chief for Intelligent Transportation Systems, Kansas Department of Transportation
  • Kristin Virshbo, CEO, Castle Rock ITS

Click here to register >

Applying the Safe System Approach for Rural Mini-Conference Session 5: Safer Speeds in the Rural Context

Thursday, April 30th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET/11:00 am-12:30 pm MT

In this portion of the mini-conference, you will learn examples for applying the Safe System Approach for safer speeds in the rural context. This includes:

  • Why safer speeds are important and examples of countermeasures to use for speed management.
  • An overview of the Operation Southern Slow Down Public Awareness Campaign and High Visibility Enforcement.
  • Why and how to use land use and road design for safer speed, a Washington State DOT example.

The presenters include:

  • Andi Bill, Director, Wisconsin Local Technical Assistance Program
  • Brent Kelly, Special Programs Director, Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs, South Carolina Department of Public Safety
  • Jacob B. Gonzalez, Senior Land Use & Transportation Planner, Washington State Department of Transportation

Click here to register >

Applying the Safe System Approach for Rural Mini-Conference Session 6: Post-Crash Care in the Rural Context

Thursday, April 30th, 3:00-4:30 pm ET/1:00-2:30 pm MT

In this portion of the mini-conference, you will learn examples for applying the Safe System Approach for post-crash care in the rural context. This includes:

  • How to connect and collaborate with your Emergency Medical Service (EMS) partners and why pre-hospital, whole blood is important and how transportation practitioners can support these local programs.
  • Why Traffic Incident Management (TIM) is important in rural areas, how to get started, what partners should be included, and what resources exist.
  • Overview of a fatal crash review team and how the recommendations can fit into the Safe System Approach framework.

The presenters include:

  • Dia Gainor, Executive Director, National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials
  • Grady Carrick, Enforcement Engineering
  • Anna Piper, CHES, CPST, Franklin County Safe Communities

Click here to register >
Skip to content