NHTSA Region 3


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Regional Highlights

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Multicultural Outreach

What You Should Know about African Americans and Safety Belts

  • Recent research demonstrates that minorities are over-represented in motor vehicle crashes.

  • Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African Americans through the age of 14. They are the second leading cause of death for African Americans between the ages of 15 and 24, surpassed only by homicides.

  • In 2000, the seat belt use rate among African Americans was five percentage points lower than that for whites.

  • A recent survey showed that 42 percent of minority children (of which African Americans were a part) were at greater risk of air bag related injuries because they were more frequently placed in the front seat of vehicles with passenger-side air bags. By contrast, 15 percent of white children were improperly placed in the front seat of these vehicles.

Good News

  • Safety belt use among African Americans registered a major gain between 2000 and 2002, increasing to 77 percent, an 8 percentage point increase since 2000. 

What You Should Know about Hispanics and Safety Belts

  • For Hispanics, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for ages 1-34.

  • A recent study examined motor vehicle fatality exposure rates and found that, although African American and Hispanic male teenagers travel fewer vehicle miles than their white counterparts, they are nearly twice as likely to die in a motor vehicle crash.

Differential Enforcement

  • The issue of a law enforcement officer stopping a citizen based purely on race or ethnicity, known as differential enforcement or "racial profiling," has recently become an issue in traffic safety.

  • While NHTSA supports the enactment of primary seat belt laws among the States, NHTSA strongly opposes any form of enforcement that uses race or ethnicity as a criterion for stopping a motorist. NHTSA continues to work with the Department of Justice to develop and promote best practices for conducting fair, professional traffic stops. NHTSA also continues to work with its State and community public safety partners to ensure that traffic stops are made for legitimate law violations. NHTSA encourages law enforcement agencies to adopt policies, management practices, training, and community outreach efforts to eliminate differential enforcement.

In Region 3

Mid Atlantic Region continues to aggressively address traffic safety issues with respect to diverse populations.

  • The internal Mid Atlantic Region outreach program operates within the US Department of Transportation's Garrett A. Morgan Transportation Futures Program. Traveling road-shows target youth and young adults, delivering proper and consistent use of safety belts and child restraints, alcohol countermeasures, graduated licensing, or any tailored request.  The added interactive feature and consultation keeps requests for our services booked well in advance.

  • The Mid Atlantic Region office is also actively assisting national groups such as Alpha Kappa Alpha and Sigma Gamma Rho sororities and the National Association for Equal Educational Opportunity to develop effective college and community based programs that target diverse populations.

  • Consistency is key to the success in Mid Atlantic Region. States such as Maryland have Regional Safe Community Partnership Programs for diverse populations at colleges and universities (Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Eastern Shore, Frostburg State University, Salisbury State University, and Charles County Community College). The Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles has developed a consortium of the Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) (St. Paul's, Virginia Seminary, Virginia State, Virginia Union, Norfolk State and Hampton) to produce diverse transportation programs. Morgan State University's National Transportation Center is also a member of the Virginia HBCU Consortium.

  • Virginia has developed an HBCU Consortium specifically directed at building seed concept traffic safety programs with the mission of campus and community outreach. There are six HBCU's in the state of Virginia. Much of the theme is directed at increasing the safety belt use rate of African Americans. Currently, Virginia HBCU's have projects for child passenger safety, safety belt checks conducted by campus police patrols, motorcycle safety, DWI awareness and a college safety curriculum being implemented at Norfolk State University. HBCU efforts similar to Virginia are in the planning stages for Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

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