April 2023 - Upcoming Calendar Events

April 7, 2023

Bicycle sign

Explore our round-up of webinars and events coming up highlighting the latest road safety trends and best practices in planning and designing safe spaces for walking, biking, scooting, and rolling! Have an event you'd like us to share? Please submit your event here.

Also, these opportunities can be found on the event calendar here.

WEBINARS

Safer Fleets Challenge: How Adopting Intelligent Speed Assistance Can Make Your Community a Better Place to Walk

Host:  America Walks

April 11, 2023 | 11:00 am PT | Register

Speeding is a major cause of deaths and serious injuries on American roadways. Governments have a unique opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to safety by retrofitting their vehicle fleets to follow the speed limits that they themselves set! Intelligent speed assistance (ISA), is a commercially available technology to retrofit vehicles to helps drivers maintain posted speed limits. It is a proven technology already in use in some government and commercial fleets. It is also required on all new cars in Europe. It is a tool that goes beyond the familiar, and often insufficient, tactics to reduce speeding - and is worth considering given the dramatic rise in pedestrian deaths.

With this webinar America Walks and its partners are launching the Safer Fleets Challenge to encourage cities and towns to start installing ISA on their fleet. Join our panelists to learn about the safety and environmental benefits of ISA, the results of real-world examples where fleets have adopted ISA, and how you can successfully advocate for your community’s fleets to get on board with the Safer Fleets Challenge. 

Learn more and register.

Communicating and Connecting Safety Messages to Underserved Communities

Host:   National Transportation Safety Board

April 13, 2023 | 10:00am PT | Register

The racial and ethnic diversity of the country significantly increased between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. Through Executive Orders on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, U.S. and state governments have sought to bring systemic change and help close gaps in racial disparities. Yet underserved communities continue to face poorer outcomes. 

The executive orders and the nation’s evolving demographics have placed increased importance on authentically engaging our many diverse communities and ensuring equity in policies and programs, particularly as it relates to safety. Transportation safety professionals, federal agencies, state and local governments, and national organizations must better understand how to authentically engage and communicate with diverse communities, particularly those that have been historically underserved and marginalized.

In this webinar, panelists will discuss the importance of appropriate audience segmentation for communication and program planning; the basic principles of engaging and communicating with diverse communities; and best practices for ensuring authenticity through communication programs, particularly those related to safety messaging.


Learn more and how to register.

Increasing Outreach and Engagement in Highway Safety Planning

Host: Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)

April 13, 2023 | Noon PT | Register

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO) to expand their highway safety planning outreach and engagement efforts. As your state develops its first triennial Highway Safety Plan, don’t miss this opportunity to hear from four thought leaders on their efforts to engage with diverse and underserved communities. Each will briefly highlight their work and then join the moderator for a facilitated discussion exploring the importance of community authorship and ownership, lessons learned and best practices.

Learn more.

Equity in Roadway Safety Leadership Panel

Host: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

April 17, 2023 | 9:00 am PT | Register

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is excited to announce the Equity in Roadway Safety Webinar Series, which will feature noteworthy actions and tools that transportation professionals and other stakeholders may implement to address disparities in traffic fatalities and serious injuries. FHWA invites you to join the esteemed panelists for the kickoff event, a Leadership Panel on Equity in Roadway Safety. 

Learn more about the event and speakers

Safe Routes to School Spring 2023 Zoom Networking Session

Host:  Safe Routes Partnership

April 19, 2023 | 11:00 am PT | Register

The days are longer, the weather is warmer, and National Bike Month is just around the corner! Let’s get ready for Spring programming by gathering virtually to discuss what’s going on in the world of Safe Routes to School. Join us for an informal Zoom session to connect with other Safe Routes to School practitioners. Share your program successes and challenges, swap resources, brainstorm project ideas, and let us know how the Partnership can support your work going forward. 

Learn more and register.

Speed Management

Host:  US DOT Federal Highway Administration

April 19, 2023 | 11:00 am PT | Register

Speeding - traveling too fast for conditions or exceeding the posted speed limits - is a contributing factor in 26 percent of all fatalities. In 2020, there were 38,824 fatalities on our Nation's roadways, of which 11,258 were speeding-related - increased by 17 percent from the previous year. Speeding is a safety concern on all roads and for all road users. Although much of the public concern about speeding has been focused on high-speed Interstates, only 14 percent (1,344) occurred on interstate highways, rural and urban combined, while 86 percent of speeding-related fatalities occurred on non-interstate roadways. Speeding is a complex issue involving engineering, driving behavior, education, and enforcement. FHWA is the lead agency accountable for the engineering actions.

Learn more and how to join the webinar.

Bike-Ped Meets Higher Ed: Partnering with Colleges and Universities on Safe Routes to School

Host:  Safe Routes Partnership

April 25, 2023 | 10:00 am PT | Register

From research and evaluation to curriculum design and GIS mapping, academic institutions can offer a number of valuable resources to Safe Routes to School programs. And the best part is, they want to get involved! Join us as we explore how college and university partnerships can increase your program capacity and turn innovative ideas into action.

Register now.

Developing an online Vision Zero resource library

Host: Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety

April 26, 2023 | 11:30 am PT | Register

Vision Zero is a growing movement throughout the U.S. to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all persons. This presentation provides an overview of the applied, year-long, community-led service-learning project developed by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center for a group of Master of Public Health students in the Health Behavior and Health Equity departments at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill. Students were tasked with developing an online resource library that includes tangible and actionable tools, activities, and other resources that interdisciplinary stakeholders can engage with to make their communities healthier and build community buy-in for equity-centered road safety initiatives, like Vision Zero. This project included conducting key informant interviews, generating reports that detail the roles different stakeholder groups play in Vision Zero efforts, conducting design thinking activities to inform a Dataverse resource repository, and developing a website sustainability plan.

Learn more and register.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Funding Deadline: Go Human Community Hubs Grant

Sponsor: SCAG and the California Office of Traffic Safety  

April 17, 2023 

This program funds projects that leverage community gathering and resource sites to implement traffic safety strategies. Hubs may include a physical or digital structure, facilitating accessible spaces to streamline community education and resource distribution.

The deadline to apply is April 17, 2023. Learn more and how to apply.

TRAININGS

RSCP Core Module #5: Intersection of Transportation with Public Health and Law Enforcement

Host:  National Center for Rural Road Safety

April 11, 2023 | 10am – 12pm 

This two-hour training will discuss the need for transportation, public health and law enforcement agencies to work together on the road to zero and strategies to achieve this.

This session is a part of the Road Safety Champion Program

Learn more and register.

RSCP Core Module #6: Reading the Roadway

Host:  National Center for Rural Road Safety 

April 18, 2023 | 10am – 12pm 

This two-hour training will teach participants how to “read the road” as well as the importance of doing so in daily activities. It will use real world examples on different roadway components to demonstrate how participants may be able to uncover potential safety issues during their routine activities.  It will also discuss how the road safety audit process can be used to “read the road” in a more formal approach. The training will also discuss the consequences daily activities of workers may have on safety.

This session is a part of the Road Safety Champion Program

Learn more and register.

CONFERENCES

National Planning Conference (online)

Host:  American Planning Association (APA)


Apr 26 – 28, 2023

Planners will continue to create the future where we all thrive and grow in our communities. NPC23 with bring the critical issues facing planners in the coming years — like climate change, housing, health equity, and the future of work with your help!

NPC23 will offer two distinct, complementary experiences for planners to connect. Once again, this year planners can attend in-person (April 1-4, 2023) and online (April 26-28, 2023). Each venue will have unique content and sessions.

Learn more.

SAFETY CAMPAIGNS

Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Apr 1 – 30, 2023
Sponsor: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Distracted driving is dangerous, claiming 3,522 lives in 2021. NHTSA leads the national effort to save lives by preventing this dangerous behavior. Get the facts, get involved, and help us keep America’s roads safe.

Learn more and access safe driving resources and tips.

National Distracted Driving Enforcement Mobilization

Apr 1 – 30, 2023
Sponsor: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
This year's U Drive. U Text. U Pay. high visibility enforcement (HVE) media campaign centers on aiding law enforcement officers in their efforts to keep texting and distracted drivers off the road. Distracted driving is a first offense in many States and continues to gain recognition across the nation as a deadly traffic safety epidemic.
Learn more.

National Public Health Week 2023

Apr 3 – 9, 2023
Sponsor: American Public Health Association (APHA)
During the first full week of April each year, APHA brings together communities across the United States to observe National Public Health Week as a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation's health. For over 25 years, APHA has served as the organizer of NPHW. Every year, the Association develops a national campaign to educate the public, policymakers and practitioners about issues related to each year's theme. APHA creates new NPHW materials each year that can be used during and after NPHW to raise awareness about public health and prevention.

This year we are “Centering and Celebrating Cultures in Health” to ensure everyone, in all cultural communities, has a chance at a long and healthy life. To do so, we must address and prevent the underlying causes of poor health and disease risk. We can use social determinants of health to understand how those causes are different for each person based on various factors like race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and financial situation. 

Learn more and how to get involved during NPHW 2023.

National Work Zone Awareness Week


Apr 17 – 21, 2023
Sponsor: American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA), Missouri Department of Transportation
National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is an annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. The key message is for drivers to use extra caution in work zones. NWZAW will be held April 17-21 and is hosted by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). 
Learn more.

Bike & Roll to School Week San Francisco 2023


Apr 24 – 28, 2023
Sponsor: San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
Safe Routes to School’s annual Bike & Roll to School Week event is for students city-wide to celebrate getting around under your own power. Whether you’re on a bike, scooter, wheelchair, or skateboard, it’s healthy, green, and FUN. Walking counts too! 

Learn more and how to get involved.