Project Details
| Title: | Improving Commercial Vehicle Safety through University Partnerships with a Focus on Distracted Driving and Work Zone Safety |
| Start Date: | October 2021 |
| End Date: | September 2023 |
| Status: | Completed |
| RiP #: | 01850985 |
| Keywords: | best practices, commercial vehicles, distracted driving, government agencies, partnerships, universities and colleges, vehicle safety, work zone safety |
Abstract
Working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in a cooperative agreement, the overall goal of this project is to improve commercial vehicle safety through sharing research and best practices in the areas of distracted driving and safety in work zones. This will be accomplished through two strategies. The first strategy will be to document and share best practices of university partnerships with state law enforcement and driver licensing agencies to improve commercial vehicle safety related to distracted driving and safety in work zones throughout the Western Service Center region. The second strategy will be to provide resources through the Commercial Vehicle Safety Center at NDSU-UGPTI as a point of contact for universities, law enforcement, and driver licensing agencies seeking assistance to establish partnerships to improve commercial vehicle safety, in particular in the areas of distracted driving and safety in work zones.
The first strategy to document and share best practices will be achieved through the following objectives.
- Each state law enforcement and driver licensing agency in the Western Service Center region will be contacted to determine if there are new or updated partnerships with a university (or universities) on one or more projects to improve commercial vehicle safety, in particular related to efforts to reduce distracted driving by CMV drivers and others operating around CMVs as well as CMV safety in work zones. If so, this information will be documented. For the universities identified, each university will be contacted for further details and information regarding any other related projects.
- A Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit will be organized and conducted to bring together state law enforcement, driver licensing agency, university representatives, and industry from the FMCSA Western Service Center region. The Summit will be organized to share information regarding existing partnerships to improve commercial vehicle safety in the areas of distracted driving and safety in work zones; and to allow those states who do not currently have a partnership to learn more about establishing a partnership.
The second strategy to provide resources through the Commercial Vehicle Safety Center at NDSU-UGPTI will be achieved through the following objectives.
- In the course of gathering information regarding new or updated partnerships between universities and enforcement and/or licensing agencies to improve commercial vehicle safety in the areas of distracted driving and safety in work zones, details regarding the partnership will be documented. These details will then be shared with any other state agency or university interested in forming a partnership.
- NDSU-UGPTI will continuously reach out to state agencies and universities to make them aware of the technical assistance available, the types of partnerships that can be formed, and the projects that can be conducted. One successful way to accomplish this outreach will be through a series of webinars for topics of interest related to commercial vehicle safety in the areas of distracted driving and safety in work zones. In addition, resources will be posted and highlighted as they become available.
The time frame of this project is October 2021 through September 2023.
For more information about this project, please email Brenda Lantz (brenda.lantz@ndsu.edu).
