BOZEMAN, MONTANA – 12/30/2024 – The National Center for Rural Road Safety (the Center) recently held a national forum on rural road safety.
The Safer Rural Roads Forum was held December 4-5 in Bozeman, Montana at Montana State University. The forum included dozens of multidisciplinary leaders in rural transportation who were interested in delving deeper into the task of implementing the Safe System Approach on rural roadways.
“This forum demonstrated the power of gathering diverse partners in making rural roads safer,” said Jaime Sullivan, the Center’s director. “Everyone left with a transformed outlook on how to reduce severe injuries and fatalities on rural roadways.”
Through six sessions of engaging technical discussions, practitioners were challenged to create actionable and implementable strategies and goals across all elements of the Safe System.
For Carrie Brown, the director of both the Western Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) and the Nevada Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), the forum’s theme presented the Safe System Approach in a more relatable way, particularly for Tribal communities.
“From a Tribal perspective, the Safe System Approach coincides very nicely with Tribal culture. The way that we view the world is through community,” Brown said. “We value community and togetherness more than we do the individual. Additionally, we see things in a holistic way.”
“I feel motivated,” she added. “This forum was the breath of fresh air that I needed. I am excited to take what I learned back to the Tribal communities, as well as the State.”
The event, which also marked the Center’s 10-year anniversary as a Federal Highway Administration Center of Excellence, presented an appropriate capstone to a decade of meaningful rural road safety work and a preview of the Center’s commitment to its role as the premier national hub for all aspects of rural road transportation safety.
For more about the National Center for Rural Road Safety, visit ruralsafetycenter.org or email info@ruralsafetycenter.org.
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