Innovative Approaches to Advancing Traffic Safety and Enforcement

The Mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an operating administration of DOT, is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards and enforcement activity. To accomplish this, NHTSA awards grants to state and local governments, not-for-profit organizations, and other entities in support of motor vehicles and road traffic safety initiatives.

NHTSA is committed to addressing equity in traffic safety, with respect to development and implementation of programs and objectives described in this NOFO consistent with Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.

The purpose of the Cooperative Agreement (CA or Agreement) is to advance traffic safety through the development, demonstration, and evaluation of innovative traffic safety countermeasure approaches and techniques, and innovative and measurable strategies and programs to affect law enforcement engagement. Traffic fatalities are increasing at a significant rate and new traffic safety countermeasures are required to address the rise in fatalities. The Recipient will first develop and demonstrate innovative traffic safety strategies and approaches consistent with existing legislation, that also support the fair and equitable application of countermeasures in communities of color, socio-economically disadvantaged, or locations where enforcement has been ineffective or lacking as a localized priority. The Recipient shall also demonstrate and evaluate approaches, strategies, and methods that enhance law enforcement engagement, as well as public engagement between law enforcement and the communities being served, ensuring that underserved communities are represented. The project will focus on the following:

1. Speed management and speeding enforcement.

2. Occupant protection, including seat belts and child restraint enforcement.

3. Impaired driving enforcement.

4. Effective engagement between Highway Safety Offices and law enforcement

Since 2015, the Nation experienced a significant and sudden increase in the number of highway traffic fatalities after steadily declining to the lowest level in more than 65 years in 2014. In 2015, the Nation experienced a nearly 10 percent increase in traffic deaths and increased to a high point in 2020 at 38,680 fatalities. Improving safety on our Nation's roadways and preventing injuries and deaths in traffic crashes remains a top priority for NHTSA.

Pursuant to its authority, NHTSA provides highway traffic safety grants to states, territories and local communities, and supports research, demonstration projects, and countermeasure programs designed to prevent motor vehicle crashes and reduce their associated economic costs. The development of new approaches and strategies to influence action by law enforcement to undertake the action necessary to reduce crashes and fatalities has become evident. Existing programs and strategies are not having the desired effect in an environment where fatal crashes are increasing significantly, and societal expectations and changes have challenged law enforcement at the operational and philosophical level. Injuries due to speeding, occupant protection and impaired driving are key components in the surge of fatalities, as well as the disproportional impact on communities of color. To address the recent rise in traffic fatalities, NHTSA seeks innovative approaches to enforcement and community engagement to bring down the number of people killed on our roads and highways every year.