Eyes on the Road! Encouraging Behaviors to Reduce Distracted Driving
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that more than 40,000 Americans died on U.S. roadways in 2023. We talk with TTI safety experts Emily Martin and Srinivas Geedipally about how distracted driving can lead to tragedy and what we can do, as drivers and passengers, to make our travels safer for everyone.
--------
32:19
It Takes a Village: In the Air or on the Ground, Safety Takes Teamwork
Tracing its origins to the Air Commerce Act of 1926, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was established in 1967 as an independent agency inside the U.S. DOT charged with investigating why transportation accidents happen. In 1974, it became an independent federal agency separate from the DOT. Although largely focused on aviation, the agency also investigates roadway, marine, pipeline, and railroad accidents, as well as those involving commercial space. Today, we talk with Robert L. Sumwalt—currently executive director of the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and former chair of the NTSB—about that agency’s ongoing mission to investigate accidents and recommend improvements that make travel safer for everyone who uses our transportation network.
--------
36:45
Our 100th Episode! Celebrating 75 Years of the TTI-TxDOT Partnership
In 1950, the Texas A&M Board of Directors charged the Texas Transportation Institute (now the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, or TTI) to enlist the broad resources of the college across the spectrum of transportation research to benefit Texas, while also providing unique educational opportunities for students to study and work in the field. This agreement solidified the Cooperative Research Program between the then-Texas Highway Department (now the Texas Department of Transportation) and TTI. For 75 years, these agencies have partnered to conduct applied research that benefits Texans and travelers worldwide by innovating and improving the safety, mobility, and resilience of our transportation network. Our host, Allan Rutter, talks about this longstanding relationship with TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams and TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree.
--------
47:37
Revisited: Crash Data and an Aging Population Raise an Issue: How old is too old to drive?
Folks are living longer thanks to medical breakthroughs and healthier lifestyles, and that means our overall U.S. population is skewing older. The Texas Demographic Center notes that the U.S. population aged 65 and older spiked between 2010 and 2020, the largest 10-year growth on record. That means more drivers on the road are older too, and statistics show that licensees over 70 jumped from 73 percent in 1997 to 87 percent in 2022. A year ago, Bernie Fette talked with TTI's Myunghoon Ko about the challenges and dangers facing older drivers, as well as how research like that performed at the Institute is producing more effective countermeasures to help keep these vulnerable drivers safer on our roadways. Today, we revisit that conversation.
--------
26:23
The Math Doesn't Lie: Roundabouts Make Driving Safer, More Reliable, and Less Technology Dependent
Roundabouts and other innovative intersections offer a number of advantages over more traditional designs, including improved sustainability, reliability, and resilience--and astonishing benefits to traffic safety for drivers. Amanda Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT's) lead in implementing these alternative designs, and TTI Research Engineer Marcus Brewer join us this episode to discuss them. For more information on TxDOT's work in this area, see the department's Innovative Intersections web page.
About Thinking Transportation: Engaging Conversations about Transportation Innovations
Our ability to get from Point A to Point B is something lots of us take for granted. But transporting people and products across town or across the country every day is neither simple nor easy. Join us as we explore the challenges on Thinking Transportation, a podcast about how we get ourselves — and the things we need — from one place to another. Every other week, an expert from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute or other special guest will help us dig deep on a wide range of topics. Find out more: https://tti.tamu.edu/thinking-transportation/
Listen to Thinking Transportation: Engaging Conversations about Transportation Innovations, Hard Fork and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
USA