This Issue:
Disparities in Traffic Safety
 How They Play Out for Different Groups in the U.S. and a Case Study from Overseas

The risk of being injured or killed in a traffic crash is disproportionately high for members of certain groups, often under-served, as defined by race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and cultural practices. Latinos, African-Americans, and Native Americans are among the most severely affected. Understanding the factors that contribute to these risks is difficult, in part because data that would identify victims as members of these groups is difficult to find. In addition, interventions and practices such as driver's license tests and media campaigns, for example, are often tailored to mainstream culture and fail to communicate to all groups.
 
 

In this issue, we examine the unique risks faced by these underserved groups (which may actually be in the majority in some regions). In addition we discuss some successful interventions, most notably the extremely effective seat belt compliance campaign among African-American motorists led by Meharry Medical College, a historically African-American institution.  
 

Elsewhere in this issue, we look at TSC-sponsored research on pre-hospital care in developing countries, the treatment that victims receive between the moment when responders arrive at the crash site to the time when the patient enters the emergency room. Other stories include reports on the Center's "Extending Safe Driving Years" workshop, held in June 2003, and highlights from the summer 2003 graduate student research seminars.

Finally, we include a tribute to Pat Waller, who passed away on August 15, 2003 . She was a visiting scholar in our earliest programs, including the 2001 course, "Advances in Aging: Mobility and Transportation Safety," and a member of our Expert Series, where she was interviewed extensively about her work and her perspectives on traffic safety. Waller was the former Director of the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan . Prior to that, she spent 20 years at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. In addition to her administrative posts, Waller held multiple academic appointments on both campuses. She was 70 years old.