HOME MyTRB CONTACT US DIRECTORY E-NEWSLETTER FOLLOW US RSS


The National Academies

BTSCRP BTS-17 [Final]

Determining the Effectiveness of Combined High Visibility Enforcement

  Project Data
Funds: $300,000
Research Agency: Iowa State University
Principal Investigator: Shauna Hallmark
Effective Date: 11/1/2021
Completion Date: 11/1/2023
Comments: Completed

BACKGROUND

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) as a universal traffic safety approach designed to create deterrence and change unlawful traffic behaviors. HVE combines highly visible and proactive law enforcement targeting a specific traffic safety issue. Law enforcement efforts are combined with visibility elements and a publicity strategy to educate the public and promote voluntary compliance with the law. NHTSA has funded several evaluations of combined enforcement programs with mixed results.

The State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs), in conjunction with their state highway patrols and local law enforcement agencies, conduct multiple HVE campaigns throughout the year as countermeasures to road user crashes caused by impaired driving, lack of seat belt use, distracted driving, and speeding. These annual multiple campaigns are labor intensive for law enforcement agencies, and there are concerns about their effectiveness.
 
If research could demonstrate through evidence-based data that combined enforcement efforts are indeed effective, this would have positive resource impacts on SHSOs and their law enforcement partners.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this research was to develop a scalable evaluation framework and methodologies to determine the effectiveness of High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) campaigns to reduce crash frequency and severity involving road user behaviors such as impaired driving, lack of seat belt use, distracted driving, and speeding. 

Status: Completed. The final report is available here:

https://doi.org/10.17226/27751

To create a link to this page, use this URL: http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5018