Safety for the Rural Aging Road User

Description/Learning Outcomes:

Webinar Description

The safety of all road users must be considered on the “Road to Zero”. In this webinar, we explored the safety needs, challenges, and countermeasures for the rural aging road user. The webinar began with an overview, continued with a case study from Florida DOT, and finished with an explanation of the ChORUS website (a resource for planning and designing for the aging road user).

Webinar Outcomes

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants were able to:

1. Identify how to improve safety and mobility for the aging road user
2. Summarize Florida DOT’s aging road user program approach and implementation strategies
3. Restate the resources available in the clearinghouse for older road user safety (ChORUS)

Target Audience

This training was directed towards a very broad safety audience including, but not limited to, planners, road supervisors, transportation managers, engineers, elected officials, and public health professionals. Participants should have some basic familiarity with transportation roadway safety.

Course Presenters

•  Pam Beer, Safety Center & Cambridge Systematics

Ms. Beer has been involved as project manager or key staff in the development, implementation, update, and evaluation each of the 20 Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSP) where Cambridge Systematics was the lead consultant.  She is currently managing the update of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan in Virginia, Louisiana and Alaska, and managed updates for California and Rhode Island.    She is currently assisting Maryland with the process evaluation of their SHSP on behalf of the Maryland Highway Safety Office.  For the Florida Department of Transportation, she developed a logo and branding for the agency’s aging road user program, and created a series of outreach materials including fact sheets, tip cards, and brochures. In addition, she worked with the Safe Mobility for Life Coalition to develop the current Aging Road User Strategic Safety Plan and helped develop the current Safe and Mobile Seniors web site.  Recently she assisted with an update of this plan. She worked with the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles to develop similar comprehensive web sites for older drivers.

• Gail Holley, Florida Department of Transportation

Gail works for the Florida Department of Transportation in the State Traffic Engineering and Operations Office where she manages their statewide aging road user program, “Safe Mobility for Life.” In this role, she leads a statewide Coalition consisting of 27-member organizations as they develop resources to implement Florida’s Aging Road User Strategic Safety Plan. The Coalition takes a positive and innovative approach to strike a balance between safety and mobility to help Floridians maintain independence and remain active in their community even after they transition from driving.

• Bruce Hamilton, Roadway Safety Foundation

Bruce is the Director of Safety & Research Programs at the Roadway Safety Foundation, a non-profit organization in Washington, DC dedicated to advancing the “hard” side of highway safety: roadway design, roadside environment, and operating conditions. This is his second stint at RSF; in between, he served as a communications manager at the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Hamilton oversees the Roadway Safety Foundation’s support of the U.S. Road Assessment Program and other initiatives. He is also pursuing a Master of Public Health at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute.