AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Celebrates 70 Years of Safe Driving

Since 1947, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has funded hundreds of projects and research ventures to discover the causes of car crashes and to learn how to prevent and minimize injuries when crashes do occur. It has conducted extensive in-house research and has worked with leading experts in North America to provide meaningful scientific insights on traffic safety. The focus of these efforts is to improve awareness, roadways and vehicle designs to ensure that drivers are safe.

In celebration of its 70th anniversary, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is highlighting its four most important research priorities – emerging technology, driver behavior, vulnerable road users and roadway systems and divers – on a new website.

AAAFoundation.org contains vast resources and findings on these important issues.

The causes of vehicle crashes.
Driver distraction.
Training techniques.
Teen and older drivers.
Senior mobility.
Evolving safety issues like impaired driving.

Cutting-edge research by the foundation showed that fatal crashes involving drivers who recently used marijuana doubled in Washington state after legalization of the drug. The study also found that there is no reliable test of impairment level related to marijuana, which hampers traffic safety law enforcement.

Other ongoing research includes:

The Annual Traffic Safety Culture Index. Published every year since 2008, it provides key indications of the public’s beliefs and attitudes toward traffic safety.

Center for Driving Safety & Technology’s In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems. These in-depth studies provide critical insight as industry about the effect of evolving vehicle technologies on traffic safety.

Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) project. This groundbreaking study tracks nearly 3,000 senior drivers as they age to better understand risks and develop effective countermeasures.

The foundation has helped strengthen laws, inform manufacturers on unsafe design issues, build public awareness and advise transportation agencies on ways to build and maintain roadways for safety.

For more information, visit AAAFoundation.org.