Recent its_tsc_rb items

Motor vehicle speed as a risk factor in pedestrian safety

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Speed is a significant risk factor in road safety. Several recent reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) highlight the need for a greater focus on speed management at the national, state and local level. As part of our Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program (CPBSP), UC Berkeley SafeTREC has prepared a new research brief, "Motor vehicle speed as a risk factor in pedestrian safety" summarizing some of the findings from these reports, as they relate to pedestrian safety

Advancing Youth Helmet Adoption Through Community-Based Programming

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bicycling provides youth with mobility, independence, and opportunities for physical activity, but head injuries remain a leading risk of biking-related crashes. Helmets are among the most effective tools for preventing serious injury, yet rates of consistent use among children and adolescents remain low and unevenly distributed across demographic groups. This paper reviews evidence on the social, cultural, and structural factors shaping helmet use and examines the role of school-based programs in promoting safer biking practices. Findings indicate that free and subsidized helmet distribution reduces access barriers but requires reinforcement through education and community engagement to sustain long-term use. Safe Routes to School initiatives improve safety and normalize active transportation, while educational campaigns influence knowledge, attitudes, and peer norms, particularly when combined with parental involvement. Equity concerns, including affordability, enforcement,...

Pairing Speed Limit Reductions and Infrastructure to Lower Fatal and Serious (FSI) Crashes

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

While recent California legislative reforms grant jurisdictions greater flexibility to lower speed limits, evidence suggests that reductions in posted speed limits alone are insufficient to meaningfully reduce crash severity. This research brief examines how speed limit reductions, when paired with infrastructure design, enforcement strategies, and contextual land-use planning, can more effectively lower FSI outcomes. Aligned with the Safe System Approach, the countermeasure layers of roadway geometry, lighting, bicycle-specific infrastructure, and enforcement shape driver behavior and protect vulnerable road users. This approach provides a pathway for communities to advance vulnerable road user safety by reducing speeds through a holistic approach.

An Early Analysis of Speed Safety Camera Program Rollout in California

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This research brief offers an early analysis of California’s rollout of speed safety camera pilot programs under Assembly Bill 645 (AB 645). No California city has ever had an automated speed camera program before Spring 2025. Documenting the program set-up and early administration experience of the pilot cities will be informative in advancing road safety efforts if speed cameras become more widespread across the state. After examining research on speed camera effectiveness and best practices based on a review of national programs, the brief focuses on Oakland and San Francisco. Drawing on interviews with city staff, the brief evaluates how well California’s approach aligns with best practices in effectiveness and equity. It finds that AB 645 incorporated many instructive learnings from elsewhere, including income-based fine reductions and data-driven site selection. It also identifies areas for further improvement such as public transparency, alternatives to monetary penalties,...

2025 California Traffic Safety Survey Summary

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) has released the California Traffic Safety Survey 2025. The study was led by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W) and conducted on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and SafeTREC.

The California Traffic Safety Survey has been conducted annually since 2010 to gain a better understanding of a range of traffic safety behaviors and to help inform traffic safety programs and public education campaigns. This year’s survey was conducted with an online panel of California drivers in all California counties for a total of 2,319 respondents, with the majority of those surveyed (59.1% unweighted) coming from Southern California and falling within the 18-44 age range.

Over 25 questions were created to address a variety of topics concerning road safety, including distracted driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, pedestrian and bicyclist safety,...

California Safe System Institute for Road Safety Executive Summary

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the summer of 2025, the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) conducted a Needs Assessment to explore the need for, and interest in, a program to support and nurture California communities’ road safety work to align with an effective Safe System Approach. As part of the Assessment, interviews and surveys were conducted, finding strong interest in such assistance, particularly for peer learning, leadership support opportunities, and more concrete examples of successes to inform individual communities’ work.

Impact of the Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training: Program Insights from the 2025 Follow-Up Survey

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training Program (CPBST) is a collaborative effort between the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California Berkeley and California Walks (Cal Walks) with funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety. Its main objective is to promote pedestrian and bicycle safety by educating residents and safety advocates, empowering community partners to advocate for safety improvements in their neighborhoods, and fostering collaboration between community participants, local officials, and agency staff.

Since 2009, the program has conducted 142 community workshops across California. The program works with a planning committee of local stakeholders to plan a workshop tailored to the community’s specific needs and priorities. This planning committee recruits participants for the workshop, and together, the planning committee and workshop participants...

Connecting Public Health and Transportation - Applying Crowdsourcing and Community Engagement Principles to Traffic Safety

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Motor vehicle traffic fatalities are a public health problem in the United States. In 2022, there were 42,514 people killed and another 2.38 million people injured on U.S. roadways (National Center for Statistics and Analysis [NCSA], 2024). These fatalities are a leading cause of death and kill over 116 people each day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), in 2022, for people ages 15-24, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death in the United States (CDC, 2022). Across all age groups, motor vehicle crashes are in the top 10 leading causes of death.

Equitable Transportation Planning for Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety through the Use of the Safe System Approach

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This research brief explores how the Safe System Approach works to reframe the current landscape in the United States to promote equitable transportation policies and planning. Topics identified for further discussion and analysis from current literature on equity and the Safe System Approach include 1) engaging diverse communities in transportation planning, 2) turning towards equity to address past systemic injustices, and 3) employing education and prevention strategies to promote “upstream” versus “downstream” (i.e., traditional) approaches.

Towards a Better Understanding of Best Implementation Practice for the Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training Program

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Community Pedestrian Safety Training Program (CPST), funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), was established in 2009 to help promote informed community awareness, advocacy, planning, and programming in reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities. Originally considering pedestrian safety only, the program was expanded to include bicycle safety in 2016 and became known as the Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training Program (CPBST). The program is a statewide project of the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), a research center created in collaboration with the Institute of Transportation Studies and the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and California Walks (Cal Walks), a nonprofit organization that specializes in promoting communities that are more just, inclusive, and walkable. SafeTREC and Cal Walks have worked with dozens of communities across California to develop localized recommendations...

Community Engagement at the Intersection of Public Health and Transportation: Highlighting Community Based Organizations’ Use of the Promotores Model for Engaging Community Members in the Field of Transportation

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Under federal statutes, transportation planners have an obligation to actively engage community members and to conduct equity-based analyses on transportation plans to ensure that people of color, low-income people, and other historically disenfranchised groups are neither disproportionately burdened nor denied the benefits of transportation investments. Planning professionals have an ethical and moral responsibility to involve and engage the communities they serve—to intentionally center community members in planning decision-making processes regarding their communities and ensure equity within the field. Equitably engaging all community groups is critical because having a political voice may empower community members to voice issues concerning their community. For instance, they may raise concerns about safety at an intersection, which may result in further investigation by agency staff. Community participation may also result in a city’s Active Transportation Plan or Circulation...

The Influence of Alcohol Outlet Proximity on Pedestrian Injury Incidence: Insights from Literature