2019 Traffic Safety Conference Program

Lurking in the Data and the Seven-Step Violator Contact: A Workshop Focused on Deploying Enforcement Resources Actively and Effectively

TCOLE Credits are given for this workshop

Lurking in the Data

Is your organization being held back, missing opportunities for funding, unable to get or deploy resources where they are needed? Is your data incomplete, inconsistent, or not retrievable? Agency operations, reducing crashes, changing driving behaviors and solving crimes are all data driven. True organizational power rests in the analytics of what the agency has captured. Understand what good data are, where to find those data, how to consistently capture the data, and make sure that they are accessible and retrievable, and ultimately usable.

The Seven-Step Violator Contact

Over the last three years, our team has worked to encourage law enforcement to be actively engaged in crash and crime reduction by increasing vehicle stops across the state.We have provided motivation though training agencies in the data driven approach to crime and traffic safety (DDACTS). We have found ways to fund overtime projects using the DDACTS model for crash reduction. The two philosophies rely heavily on increasing vehicle stops.The greatest source of public complaints on law enforcement officers are a result of unprofessional vehicle contacts. The Sandra Bland act changed history in Texas and was the result of an unprofessional vehicle stop. Many police agencies across the country do not train officers how and why a seven-step approach to making vehicle stops is crucial. Many policies just state the officer will be professional when contacting the public.This presentation will provide the nuts and bolts of the seven-step vehicle contact and why each step should be used in order. The information in this presentation is backed by a time-tested method and supported by case law.

Presenters:

• Sergeant (ret.) Mike Munson, Law Enforcement Liaison, Texas Municipal Police Association
• Garry L. Parker, Law Enforcement Liaison, Texas Municipal Police Association
• Jamie Aguilar, Crime Analyst, Allen Police Department, Allen, TX
• Commander (ret.) Dan Howard, Texas-DDACTS Project Coordinator, International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST)
• Larry Krantz, Police Traffic Services Program Manager, Texas Department of Transportation

Keeping Vehicles on the Road: A Workshop Focused on Reducing Roadway Departure Crashes

This workshop will explore the various low-cost strategies that can help to effectively minimize roadway departure crashes. Example treatments that will be explored include high friction surface treatments, enhanced delineation, and strategies designed to alert the driver to impending safety considerations. Central to the workshop will be case studies where workshop attendees can gain first-hand experience identifying appropriate safety treatments for a specific roadway condition. The workshop will also introduce the concepts of (1) identifying treatments targeted at helping vehicles that do inadvertently exit the road safely re-enter, and (2) options to help minimize risk when the driver cannot safely regain control of the vehicle. These two concepts will be expanded as part of the conference roadway departure sessions.

Presenters:

• Dick Albin, Safety Engineer, Federal Highway Administration Safety Resource Center
• Joseph Cheung, FHWA Office of Safety, Roadway Departure Team
• Karen Dixon, Division Head and Senior Research Engineer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Breakout Session: Distracted Driving I
Driver Distraction: How Big and How Much of a Problem Is It?

• Theodore Scott Smith, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• Katie Womack, Texas A&M Transportation Institute 
• Pat Oborski, Detective, Austin Police Department

Moderator: Michael Manser, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Breakout Session: Speeding I
Slowing the Speeding Epidemic: Reimagining the Three Es Part I

• Sgt. Mike Munson (Retired), Law Enforcement Liaison, Texas Municipal Police Association
• Garry L. Parker, Law Enforcement Liaison, Texas Municipal Police Association

Moderator: Larry Krantz, Police Traffic Services Program Manager, Texas Department of Transportation

Breakout Session: Roadway Departures I
Getting Back on the Road

• Dick Albin, Safety Engineer, Federal Highway Administration Safety Resource Center
• Joseph Cheung, FHWA Office of Safety, Roadway Departure Team

Moderator: Karen Dixon, Division Head and Senior Research Engineer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Breakout Session: Impaired Driving I 
Transformational Thinking About Marijuana: Differing Perspectives, Traffic Safety and Partner Building

• Glenn Davis, Highway Safety Office, Colorado Department of Transportation
• Chief Bob Ticer, Chief of Police Loveland Police Department, Loveland, Colorado
• Kristi Kelly, Executive Director, Marijuana Industry Group

Moderators: Troy Walden and Jena Prescott, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Breakout Session: Pedestrian Safety II
Guided Walking Tour and Activity

Breakout Session: Intersection Safety II
Guided Walking Tour and Activity

Breakout Session: Young Drivers II
Youth Transportation Safety Programming—Things You Can Use from Other Partners and Places

• Nebraska’s Statewide Youth Safety Program — Jeanne Bietz, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
• Our Roads Our Safety, FMCSA’s Safety Outreach Resources — Shashunga Clayton, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association
• Always Expect a Train — Buck Russel, Union Pacific Railroad
• Driving on the Right Side of the Road — Elizabeth De La Garza, Texas Municipal Courts Education Center

Moderator: Russell Henk, Texas A&M Transportation Institute