The National Center for Rural Road Safety (NCRRS) is a premier center of excellence for training, resources, technical assistance, and education on rural road safety issues. Funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the NCRRS equips rural communities to prevent all deaths and serious injuries on their roadways.
Traffic Safety Events
Labor Day National Mobilization – Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
August 13 – September 1, 2025
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
During the 2023 Labor Day holiday (6:00pm September 1 – 5:59am September 5), there were 511 crash fatalities nationwide. Of those people, 185 (36%) were killed in crashes that involved at least one alcohol-impaired driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or above.
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over is a national high-visibility enforcement campaign that focuses on the consequences of drunk driving and is supported by increased law enforcement.
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDoR)
November 16, 2025
Vision Zero Network, Families for Safe Streets, It Could Be Me, Road to Zero Coalition
Join communities across the U.S. and around the world for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday, November 16, 2025. Organizers nationwide are holding events to remember those lost, support those impacted, and demand urgent change to prevent future tragedies.
Webinars
Small Steps, Real Results – Scaling Up Vision Zero
July 29, 2025
10:00 am – 11:00 am PT
Vision Zero Network
Across the country, communities are advancing safe streets — not always through massive overhauls, but with focused, impactful changes that deliver real safety improvements. Join us for a webinar showcasing how local leaders are putting proven strategies into action, from reducing speed limits and installing traffic calming features to redesigning intersections and fostering cross-agency collaboration. And while these local wins may not always grab national attention, they do show that when and where we invest in safety, we see progress.
Explore examples of strong foundations laid through Vision Zero Action Plans, alongside real-world infrastructure changes that reflect the principles of the Safe System approach. This session will offer practical tools and takeaways to help move from small steps to broader, systemic change.
Road Departure Crashes and Safety Countermeasures Pilot Webinar
July 31, 2025
9:00 am – 10:00 am PT
Minnesota Towards Zero Deaths
Road departure crashes—where a vehicle crosses an edge line, centerline, or otherwise leaves its travel lane—remain a leading cause of fatalities and serious injuries on Minnesota roads. 70% of these fatal and serious injuries in the state occur on rural two-lane roads, which comprise a significant portion of our local road network. This Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) webinar will discuss crash data and spotlight proven, infrastructure-based countermeasures that help reduce both the likelihood and severity of these crashes. It will also address and correct some common misconceptions. Topics will include rumble strips, enhanced signage, clear zones, and high-friction surface treatments, offering insights into what’s working across Minnesota and beyond.
AASHTO Bike Guide Series Part 2 – Design Principles of High-Comfort Bikeways
July 31, 2025
10:00 am – 11:00 am PT
Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC)
In December 2024, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) published the fifth edition of its Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, which provides guidelines for the planning, engineering, and design of bicycle facilities for a wide range of contexts. This webinar series presents details of the latest AASHTO Bike Guide focusing on updates to the Guide and key considerations for transportation professionals involved in supporting, planning, and developing connected networks for bicycling.
Building on foundational knowledge from Part 1, this session will focus on the guide’s design recommendations for high-comfort bikeway facilities and their shared core design elements. Intersections will also be addressed in this webinar.
Content highlights include:
- Basis of design elements such as sight distance and design speed
- Design considerations for protected bike lanes, side paths, and shared use paths
- Bicycle boulevard design
Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities – A First Look at 2024 Data & National Trends
July 31, 2025
11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT
Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)
New data from the Governors Highway Safety Association indicates that fewer pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads in 2024, the second annual decline. Despite that recent progress, fatalities remain far above the pre-pandemic level. We still have a long way to go to reach the goal of zero roadway deaths.
In this webinar GHSA Communications Director Adam Snider will share an overview of the data and what it says about U.S. pedestrian safety trends. Officials from two State Highway Safety Offices will share unique approaches states are taking to address pedestrian safety.
Rethinking Public Transit in Emergency Evacuations – Lessons from Wildfires
August 4, 2025
9:00 am – 10:30 am PT
$100
Transportation Research Board (TRB)
Public and multimodal transportation can play a critical role in emergency evacuations. TRB is hosting a webinar that will explore how transit systems can support mass evacuations, reduce congestion, aid carless residents and visitors, and preserve emergency response capacity. Presenters will share insights from wildfire evacuations, including the 2021 Caldor Fire and the 2025 Southern California wildfires, and examine research findings, case studies, and planning principles. Attendees will learn about coordination strategies, infrastructure considerations such as mobility hubs, and best practices for better integrating transit into emergency response efforts. For more information about this training, visit the National Academies webpage.
Innovative Signal Controller Programming Techniques
August 5, 2025
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm PT
Members Free / Non-members $79
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
This webinar explores cutting-edge signal controller programming strategies that enhance multimodal mobility, safety, and operational efficiency. Designed for transportation professionals, the session will highlight peer-to-peer operations and advanced detection techniques that support a range of applications, including:
- Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) and Transit Signal Priority (TSP).
- Learn how modern controllers can dynamically adapt to real-time transit and emergency vehicle movements.
- Railroad Pre-emption Assistance: Discover programming methods that improve coordination between traffic signals and rail crossings to reduce delays and enhance safety.
- Predictive Pedestrian Applications: Explore how predictive analytics and sensor data can anticipate pedestrian behavior and optimize crossing times.
- Directional Pedestrian Signal Operations: See how isolating pedestrian buttons enables directional control and supports multiple crossings per cycle—improving accessibility and flow.
- Passive Detection for Cyclists: Understand how removing push buttons from bike signal operations and relying on passive detection can streamline cyclist experience and reduce delay.
- Detection and Phasing Strategies: How adaptive detection zones and phasing logic can improve transit reliability and pedestrian quality of life.
Attendees will leave with practical programming techniques and implementation insights that can be applied to both new and legacy signal systems. For more information about this training, please see the ITE webpage.
Back to School Safety
August 7, 2025
9:00 am – 10:00 am PT
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT)
This webinar will explore back to school safety and actions anyone can take to ensure the safety of children traveling to and from school. MDOT’s renewed Safe Routes to School (SRTS) initiative includes a state agency working group and a focus on both non-infrastructure and infrastructure improvements across the state. Guest speaker Duwan Morris will showcase Montgomery County SRTS engagement and what a PTA or community member can do in preparation for a new school year. Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) Youth Ambassadors will discuss safety precautions students can take to be safe travelling to school and what students can do to make a difference at their schools.
Frontiers of Technology – Artificial Intelligence, Transportation and Road Safety
August 12, 2025
10:00 am – 11:00 am PT
Organization: National Safety Council (NSC)
Artificial intelligence is shaping transportation planning, traffic violation enforcement and navigation, opening up new possibilities for addressing longstanding challenges. Road to Zero brings you the latest information about how innovation impacts road safety.
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – National Organizing Call
August 13, 2025
10:00 am – 11:00 am PT
Vision Zero Network, Families for Safe Streets, It Could Be Me, Road to Zero Coalition
Join communities across the U.S. and around the world for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday, November 16, 2025. Organizers nationwide are holding events to remember those lost, support those impacted, and demand urgent change to prevent future tragedies.
Learn more or get involved by joining the kickoff call to hear how you can help plan, support, or amplify efforts in your community.
Road Safety Champion Program (RSCP) – Introduction to Road Safety (CM#1)
August 19, 2025
11:00 am – 1:00 pm PT
National Center for Rural Road Safety
Get an overview of safety trends and a national understanding of roadway safety. Also, discuss techniques for safety collaboration, the importance of prioritizing safety over other considerations, and how an individual can become a Road Safety Champion.
Trainings
Virtual: Improve Health & Safety with the Positive Culture Framework – A Foundational Training from Its Creators
September 9 – 11, 2025
$475
Banyan Collaborative
The Positive Culture Framework is an approach for tackling complex health and safety challenges like traffic safety including growing support for the Safe System Approach. Developed by Katie Dively and Jay Otto of Banyan Collaborative, this updated training equips you with a 7-step process, essential skills, and real-world context for lasting impact. As the original creators, Katie and Jay bring over 20 years of experience, plus a new leadership component and a dedicated one-on-one follow-up session to ensure success.
Virtual: Positive Culture Framework
September 23 – 25, 2025
$600
Center for Health and Safety Culture (CHSC)
The Positive Culture Framework is an approach based on our research about improving health and safety in communities and organizations. The Framework builds on shared values and beliefs that already exist in a culture to improve health and safety. It addresses key skills (the how), steps in a process (the what), and the context for doing the work (the where). For more information about this training, please see the Center for Health & Safety webpage.
Virtual: Implementing the Safe System Approach Course
October 8 – November 19, 2025
ITE Member: $600 / Non-Member: $850
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
The Implementing the Safe System Approach course is a new certificate-based blending learning course that will provide an in-depth understanding of the Safe System Approach and its application. At its foundation, the Safe System Approach acknowledges that humans make mistakes and are vulnerable to crash impacts. This approach is a change from traditional safety practice and is based on shared responsibility, redundancy, and proactive action across five elements: Safe Road Users, Safe Vehicles, Safe Roads, Safe Speeds, and Post-Crash Care. The intended audience for the course is transportation planners, engineers, safety data analysts, public health professionals, and other key stakeholders with shared responsibility within the Safe System.
This online blending learning course will consist of pre-recorded modules delivered by subject matter experts and four live instructor-led discussion sessions. For more information about this training, visit the ITE webpage.
Virtual: Road Safety Audits – From Concept to Results
October 13 – 23, 2025
$1,500 – $2,200
International Road Federation (IRF)
Road safety audit and inspections serve the common purpose of identifying risk factors related to road design or traffic control that may lead to crashes, or make crashes more severe. In many cases, they also assist network highway operators and city traffic departments in identifying engineering weaknesses and hazardous locations, even in the absence of robust traffic injury data.
Almost 85% of countries surveyed by the World Health Organization currently report implementing road safety audits or inspections, and it is important for all road safety professionals to understand how to design and implement them correctly for maximum safety benefits. For more information about this training, please visit the IRF webpage.
Conferences
Virtual: APBP Virtual Summit
September 25 – 26, 2025
$169 – $299
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
This fall, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals is holding a live, two day, educational summit composed of two keynote speakers and 6 breakout sessions focused on the many facets of the active transportation field. For more information about this conference, please see the APBA webpage.
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2025 Convention
October 8 – 11, 2025
Seattle, WA
$895 – $1,345
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
The ASCE Convention stands as the Society’s premier membership event, offering a unique annual opportunity for the entire Society to come together. This gathering not only showcases the diversity within civil engineering that ASCE represents but also features a program that is integrated, cross-cultural, technical, and educational in nature. For more information about this conference, please visit the Conference webpage.
Virtual: Safe Routes to School Summit
October 28 – 30, 2025
$130
Safe Routes Partnership
This three-day event will be filled with presentations and networking opportunities for Safe Routes practitioners, partners, and champions.
International Road Federation Global Roads to Tomorrow Conference
December 9 – 12, 2025
Los Angeles, CA
$599 – $999
International Road Federation (IRF)
Join the world’s premier event for road and mobility professionals as we explore how digitization, artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge innovations are revolutionizing the roads and transportation sector. The IRF Global R2T Conference offers a dynamic platform for learning, collaboration, and forging influential partnerships – ensuring you stay at the forefront of a rapidly changing industry. For more information about this conference, please visit the IRF Global webpage.
For a full list of conferences outside of California, visit the National Center for Rural Road Safety website.
Contact the National Center for Rural Road Safety Center for assistance.