8 Takeaways from the 2024 GHSA Annual Meeting

Safe vehicle technology, emergency medical services and traffic enforcement are just some of the topics covered during the Governor Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Annual Meeting, one of the premier national highway safety conferences in the U.S. Earlier this month, Ryan Klitzsch, Crystal Mercedes and I joined over 800 partners for the 2024 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this blog post, we compile our biggest takeaways from the meeting.

1 New Officers Elected

During this year’s meeting, GHSA elected its new set of association officers:

• Chair: Michael Hanson (Minnesota)

• Vice Chair: Amy Davey (Nevada)

• Treasurer: Tom Glass (Pennsylvania)

• Secretary: Lisa Freeman (Louisiana)

The conference also featured a keynote from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman, who announced NHTSA’s new proposed rulemaking to require passenger vehicles to be designed to minimize pedestrian injury in crashes.

2 Emergency Management Services Gain Attention

A remarkable outcome of this gathering was the broader focus on areas of the Safe System Approach that are sometimes overlooked.

More states are moving to close the gap on Emergency Management Services (EMS), with at least two states creating first responder liaison positions within their highway safety offices. Further, the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) is hiring an EMS Highway Safety Liaison in Washington, D.C.

NASEMSO Executive Director Dia Gainor participated in a general session panel and explained ways in which states can support specific aspects of EMS that lead to improved traffic safety metrics, such as improving dispatch protocols, providing more timely care, and improving emergency transportation.

NHTSA also has a project underway to identify a set of “countermeasures that work” for EMS. Dia explained how the safety community should be looking at ambulances themselves as dangerous vehicles. Finally, she noted that EMS providers are trusted by the community and could be powerful traffic safety messengers.

3 The Future of Safe Vehicle Technology

Hyundai Motor Group President and Global Chief Safety and Quality Officer Brian Latouf delivered a keynote explaining the automaker’s investments in safe vehicle technology. In a workshop on safer vehicles, representatives from Waymo, Zoox, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) discussed the current state of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle technology.

4 Driver Education Shifts Focus To Teen Driver Safety

One longstanding traffic safety topic is the learning-to-drive process, which has changed remarkably in the last 20 years. Today, driver education is privatized, individualized and often online, supplemented by practice driving with an adult, usually a parent or guardian who may not have expertise in driver training. This is in contrast to the school- and classroom-based instruction and even the group on-the-road training that added a layer of community to the process. The talk of the meeting was the need for a new national summit to reassess where we are on teen driver safety.

5 Traffic Enforcement Assessed for Equity and Diversity

In the background of all behavioral programs is the question about the role of traffic enforcement. In a workshop on law enforcement equity, panelists described investments to make law enforcement services more equitable and diverse. Reportedly, the national agency average for female law enforcement officers is 12 percent and has remained at this rate for decades. The panelists cited many reasons: physical agility requirements, child caregiving needs, misunderstanding of the profession and lack of female role models in higher-ranking positions. Though it can be difficult to break past this range, several agencies have achieved more gender parity, despite overall law enforcement recruitment challenges nationwide.

6 Public Engagement Workshop Develops Strategies to Reach Diverse Populations

An important tool to achieve equity is public engagement. In an innovative workshop, participants actively brainstormed how to best plan and implement community engagement activities and how to reach specific populations that may be underserved, such as African American, Hispanic, or Native populations. This discussion also acknowledged the broad diversity in cultures and languages within the United States and shared best practices in tailoring and catering community messaging such that it is received by the intended communities in the best-understood language and dialect. 

7 Roadside Testing and the Risks of Drug-Impaired Driving from Cannabis Legalization

The risks of drug-impaired driving remain a perennial concern in highway safety. The conference featured two workshops on this topic—cannabis legalization and roadside drug testing—that were so packed this author couldn’t even get in!

8 Winners of the Annual Roadway Safety Awards

Finally, GHSA issued its annual Roadway Safety Awards:

Peter K. O'Rourke Special Achievement Awards

• Melissa Wandall of the Mark Wandall Foundation for raising awareness and advocating for the dangers of red-light running.

• AAA Missouri for its sustained efforts to prevent distracted driving.

• Tammy Gweedo McGee, founder of IfYouSeeSomethingSaySomething.org and the Gweedo Memorial Foundation, for her dedicated and passionate support of teen driver safety.

Kathryn J.R. Swanson Public Service Award

• Terecia W. Wilson, Clemson University Professor and former Assistant Director of the South Carolina Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, for 50 years of commitment to advancing roadway safety at the federal, state and local levels.

James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award

• Anne Ferro, now retired former President and CEO of the American Association of Motor Vehicles Administrators and FMCSA Administrator, for more than three decades of leadership and advocacy for safer roads.

Congratulations to all the recipients! Learn more about the 2024 GHSA Annual Roadway Safety Awards.