News Archive
December 12, 2006 - AAA Risky Driver Study
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently released the results of a study "An Assessment of the Relative Risk of Engaging in Potentially Unsafe Driving Behaviors." The research found that: speeding was found to nearly triple the odds of being involved in a crash; driving while drowsy was associated with a similar increase in the odds of being involved in a crash; when a driver's eyes were off the road for more than two seconds, for any reason, the odds of a crash occurring were nearly double those of a driver paying attention to the road; and the odds of a crash more than doubled when a driver exhibited aggressive driving behaviors.
The AAA Foundation funded Jeffrey S. Hickman, Sheila G. Klauer, Vicki L. Neale and Jeremy Sudweeks of VTTI to conduct the analysis, using data collected during the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, to understand more about the relative risks associated with driving behaviors known to be dangerous from previous studies.
August 30, 2006 - VTTI Dedicates New Building
On August 30, 2006, with The Honorable John Warner as the keynote speaker, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) dedicated its new 22,000 square-foot building in Blacksburg as the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence (STSCE). The new building was completed in June 2006 and was built to accommodate VTTI's rapidly increasing staff of transportation safety researchers.
The Center was formally awarded to VTTI through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in July 2006. In cooperation with FHWA, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its research arm, the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC), and General Motors Corp.(GM), STSCE will provide VTTI the opportunity to continue to collaborate with its many partners in ground-breaking transportation safety research.
Warner was instrumental in designating VTTI as a Center for Excellence in Section 5309 of the August 2005 federal transportation bill titled Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The goal of the Center, as defined by the legislation, is to develop and disseminate advanced transportation safety innovations to rural and urban communities.