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A NEWSLETTER for PENNSYLVANIA'S HIGHWAY SAFETY NETWORK |
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Pennsylvania's 2021 Seat Belt Use Rate 89.5% NHTSA has determined that the documentation submitted by Pennsylvania asserting the 2021 seat belt use rate of 89.5 percent meets the requirements of certification set forth in the Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt Use (23 CFR Part 1340).
Pennsylvania's 2021 seat belt use rate is an increase from 88.9 percent in 2020. For more information on Seat Belt Use in the States and Territories, visit nhtsa.dot.gov.
For more information on seat belt safety in PA, visit PennDOT.gov/Safety. |
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GSA Mileage Rate Changes
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the mileage reimbursement rates have changed. The effective date of the rate change is for travel on or after January 1, 2022.
The Standard rate has increased from $0.56/mile to
$0.585/mile.
The Other Vehicle Available rate has increased from $0.16/mile to $0.18/mile.
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News from the Highway Safety Office Emily Bremer, Highway Safety Office Program Administrator, was recently awarded one of nine Fall 2021 Highway Administration Performance Awards.
Emily recommended process improvements that resulted in the reduction of processing times for grant reimbursement, in addition to coordinating enhancements to the e-grants system.
Emily volunteered to help in support of sustaining these tasks short-term and transitioning them to more appropriate job classifications in the future. She quickly learned the previous procedures to ensure the continued payment of grant claims and subsequently made efficiency improvements. These improvements and the development of new tracking spreadsheets have had the positive impact of reducing the time it takes to reimburse grantees and PennDOT with supporting federal monies. Emily’s contributions extend beyond supporting the fiscal administration of the highway safety grants program. She plays a vital role in administering IT systems in support of grant program management.
Emily helped coordinate enhancements to reporting and other input fields in our current e-grants system while supporting the development of a new system for our highway safety grants.
Beyond fiscal and IT support, Emily leads the annual development of the Pennsylvania Highway Safety Plan (PA HSP) and PA Traffic Safety Conference (PA TSC). The PA HSP helps secure roughly $20M/year in federal passthrough behavioral traffic safety funds. Emily’s contributions to this plan have streamlined the approval process with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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Tom Glass, Behavioral Safety Programs Manager, was recently appointed to serve as Chair of GHSA's newly established Governance Committee.
This new committee will help oversee GHSA’s governance structures, promote ongoing GHSA Executive Board development, and develop and implement association bylaws, polices, procedures, and practices. Tom has represented Pennsylvania at GHSA for many years, previously serving on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee and serving as Chair of the Research committee. |
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Christy Timbrell, Highway Safety Outreach Programs Manager, was recently nominated Secretary of the National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders, Inc. (NAWHSL).
As Pennsylvania’s representative, she joined NAWHSL in 2019. Last year, she was scheduled to help facilitate the meeting in Pittsburgh but, due to the mitigation efforts of the pandemic, this conference was cancelled. Christy did moderate sessions in both the 2020 and 2021 virtual annual conferences. |
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Read on to learn what your colleagues are doing in support of Highway Safety Initiatives. If you'd like to share your programming for the next newsletter, contact your Regional Project Administrator (RPA), or email Jennifer Kuntch at jkuntch@pa.gov. |
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National Teen Driver Safety Week |
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Bucks County High School Seat Belt Safety Challenge |
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Bucks County CTSP, TMA Bucks, has been a leading advocate in teen driver safety since 2008 with the implementation of its highly successful Bucks County High School Seat Belt Safety Challenge and Teen Driver Safety Video PSA Challenge.
According to 2008 data, seat belt use by students who drove to Bucks County high schools averaged only about 60 percent. While alarming on its own, this low rate of seat belt use was even more concerning when compared with the 90 percent seat belt use rate by all adults in Bucks County in the same year. To increase seat belt use among student drivers, TMA Bucks created the Bucks County High School Seat Belt Safety Challenge, delivering a strong message to these students: Seat belts save lives!
Each fall, unannounced baseline surveys of seat belt usage by student drivers are conducted by trained volunteers at all public and private high schools throughout the county. Individual survey results are then sent to each school administration with an invitation to take part in the challenge to increase the number of students wearing seat belts. Student groups at each participating school then work to actively promote seat belt use within the student body using posters, school-wide announcements, and other creative messages. In the spring, again unannounced follow-up surveys are conducted at participating schools. The school with the highest overall seat belt use and the school with the greatest percentage increase in seat belt use are both awarded with perpetual trophy plaques and cash grants for safety-related use by the school. These trophies and grants are awarded by TMA Bucks.
The results of the program show that it has been successful in changing behavior. Both the baseline use rate, as well as the follow-up use rate have consistently increased each year of the program, with the most recent year seeing a 91 percent overall baseline rate and a 93 percent follow-up rate.
As part of the seat belt challenge, all high schools also have the opportunity to produce and submit a 30-second video PSA on teen driver safety as part of the TMA Bucks Teen Driver Safety Video PSA Challenge powered by Comcast. The videos can cover any aspect of safe driving such as seat belts, texting, distracted driving, impaired driving, or speeding. The winning school receives $500, and their PSA plays on Comcast. The winner is selected by teen writers from the “Teen Takes” staff of the Bucks County Courier Times & The Intelligencer. |
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Bucks County Commissioners highlighted the 15th year of TMA Bucks’ seat belt challenge by officially proclaiming October 17-23, 2021 as National Teen Driver Safety Week in Bucks County.
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Halloween Impaired Driving Campaign |
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SPOs Participate in Trunk-or-Treat |
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For Halloween, several Safety Press Officers participated in various trunk-or-treats around their districts. Check out some of the cute set-ups below!
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PennDOT District 3 SPO Kim Smith's decorated trunk. |
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PennDOT District 11 SPO Yasmeen Manyisha's decorated trunk. |
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Trick-or-treaters learning to walk safely by using the crosswalk! |
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Holiday Season Impaired Driving |
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Chester County CTSP Partners with Local Police for OSH Video |
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Erin Grandizio, Chester County Highway Safety Project, worked with the West Goshen Police Department to create a video promoting safe driving tips throughout the holiday season. She wrote the script and filmed the officers… and had other police departments reaching out to ask about creating a video as well! |
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York County CTSP Participates in Tree Decorating Contest Bringing Awareness to Impaired Driving |
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York County CTSP, Center for Traffic Safety, participated in a tree decorating competition this past holiday season on behalf of their Kain Memorial Fund. The event, “Spruce’d Up! A Celebration of Trees presented by Traditions Bank” was hosted by the York Revolution.
The event, held at PeoplesBank Park, was free to the public every weekend beginning on Black Friday and running through December 19. In its second year, the “tree-mendous” holiday display, shopping village, and one-of-a-kind fundraiser featured dozens of live trees sponsored and decorated by local organizations in a competition designed to benefit area nonprofits. Visitors to the ballpark’s concourse were encouraged to vote for their favorite tree, with three winning trees earning cash donations to the nonprofit organization of the sponsor’s choice. Over 1,700 people visited the display over the four weekends.
The Kain Memorial Fund tree displayed 86 red ribbons, each representing the innocent lives taken by an impaired driver and remembered through the Kain Memorial. The tree was decorated with red, white, and blue lights and handcuffs representing law enforcement. Ornaments depicting various causes of impairment included mini solo cups, alcohol bottles, beer mugs, shot glasses, martini glasses, prescription pill bottles, and empty syringes. Police tape was used as garland. The tree display also included a “Sobriety Checkpoint Ahead” sign that was on loan from the York Area Regional Police Department.
Although the Kain Memorial Fund did not win one of the donations, it brought awareness to the public about the dangers and consequences of impaired driving, and that’s a win for traffic safety. |
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Allegheny County Safety Partners Decorate 'DUI Tree' |
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During the Holiday Season Impaired Driving Campaign, PennDOT District 11 Safety Press Officer Yasmeen Manyisha and the Allegheny County Safety Partners teamed up for their annual DUI Tree program. Created in 2013, the program brings impaired driving awareness to young drivers and the community-at-large.
Seven Allegheny County high schools participated this year, allowing students to decorate a tree with ornaments representing impaired driving statistics. This year, 971 lights represented impaired driving crashes and 13 gold bulbs represented impaired driving fatalities, while 101 red bows represented holiday season impaired driving crashes and there were no red bulbs representing zero holiday season impaired driving fatalities. These displays send students a powerful message before heading off on winter break.
New this year, District 11 held a media event to promote the program and discuss the importance of sober driving this holiday season and always. The safety partners decorated their own DUI Tree in Monroeville Mall. The decoration representations were explained during the event, and signs were hung near the tree for all those who viewed it throughout the holiday season.
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Pennsylvania Traffic Safety Conference April 5-7, 2022
Pittsburgh, PA
Stay tuned for all the details! Suggestions are welcome and can be shared with Emily Bremer at ebremer@pa.gov or 717-787-3656. |
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PennDOT's Media Center offers materials for numerous safety-related campaigns available to our partners for use on their own social media channels. For this and other available graphics, visit PennDOT's Media Center. |
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A Look at the Calendar Ahead... |
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Jan 9-15: Winter Driving Awareness Week
Feb 9-13: Super Bowl Impaired Driving Campaign (Theme: Responsible party hosting, designated driver) Feb 20-26: Highway Safety Law Awareness Week (Theme: Specific laws TBD) Mar 1: Fat Tuesday Impaired Driving Campaign Mar 4-17: Saint Patrick’s Day Impaired Driving Enforcement (Theme: Impaired driving myths, ignition interlock; Sub-theme: college students) Mar 14-15: Drowsy Driving Prevention Campaign Mar 14: Vehicle Recall Awareness Day Mar 18-Apr 24: Aggressive Driving Enforcement Wave 2 (Theme: Distracted driving, speeding, work zone awareness) Apr: Distracted Driving Awareness Month Apr 11-15: National Work Zone Awareness Week (Theme: Work Zones are Sign to Slow Down)
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