SAFE Schools For Safer Future

Seatbelts Are For Everyone (SAFE) is a Kansas state initiative program launched in 2008 by DCCCA Inc. (Developing Caring Communities Committed to Action) to increase teen restraint compliance through education, positive reinforcement, and enforcement. This teen-led, peer-to-peer program aims to reduce the number of teen motor vehicle injuries and fatalities. The SAFE program has been a component of the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office (KTSRO) for over a decade. The program was expanded to Oklahoma and Missouri in 2014 and 2016 respectively, and Iowa adopted the program in 2021. The goal of the current research project is to understand the efficacy of the SAFE program through a multifaceted approach. This project will be conducted in two parts; the first part includes surveying high school students on the topics of seatbelt, traffic laws and other safe driving behaviors covered by the SAFE program that can help in understanding their attitudes, perceptions, knowledge and experience regarding road safety and how it differs between students participating SAFE and non-SAFE schools. In addition, this part will also include socioeconomic analysis to determine the influence of equity factors on the driving behaviors and perception of Kansas teen drivers. The second part of the study will include conducting literature review, examining Kansas fatal and serious injury crashes involving teens over a 13-year period, from 2010 to 2023, and their potential contributing factors, identifying various safety programs, best practices and initiatives across the nation focused on improving teen safety and emphasizing the importance of educating and training young drivers during their early driving phases. It is critical to instill safe driving behavior for young people from an early age to foster a safety culture and better mobility in the future.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $99,796.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348307

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Mid-America Transportation Center

  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2200 Vine Street, PO Box 830851
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0851
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Kansas, Lawrence

  Transportation Research Institute
  2117 Learned Hall, 1530 W 15th Street
  Lawrence, KS  United States  66045
• Principal Investigators:

  Gunda, Nikhila

  Schrock, Steven

• Start Date: 20240601
• Expected Completion Date: 20260630
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Community action programs; Compliance; Driving behavior; High school students; Literature reviews; Seat belt use; Teenage drivers; Traffic safety education; Transportation equity
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01972422
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Mid-America Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348307
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 21 2025 2:27PM