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Check out our new Drive Well Vermont website!

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Distracted Driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving. 

Why does it matter? Practicing engaged driving shows that you care about your own safety as well as the safety of your family, friends, and community. Give driving your full attention.

What can you do?  

  • Put your cell phone away, out of sight and out of reach.
  • Program your phone to send auto-responses that tell your friends and family you are driving and not able to answer the phone.
  • Stay focused on your driving and what’s ahead of you.
  • Be aware of other motorists around you.
  • Pre-program your GPS, or plan your route before leaving.
  • Choose your podcast or playlist ahead of time.
  • Eat your snacks before leaving the house, or take a break during a long journey to have a meal.

Drive Well, Vermont.

To learn more, visit NHTSA.gov. For Drive Well Vermont materials, click here. 

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Grant Electronic Application and Reporting System (GEARS)

Click here to go to GEARS (for current subgrantees or agencies interested in applying for a grant with the SHSO). 


Operations and Safety Bureau Data Dashboard

Click here to see current crash data from the OSB Data and Analysis Unit. 


Our Mission Statement

Achieve progress “Toward Zero Deaths” by reducing the number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities on Vermont's roads and to provide highway safety data and fact-based analyses that will assist communities and safety advocates in implementing effective programs that will change high-risk driving behavior and increase safety on our streets and highways.

Where We Are Located

The Vermont State Highway Safety Office is located within the Agency of Transportation's Highway’s Division, Office of Operations and Safety Bureau, Dill Building, Unit A, 2178 Airport Road, Barre, VT 05641.

What We Do

The Vermont State Highway Safety Office (SHSO) awards federal highway safety grant funds to local, state and non-profit agencies for projects to improve highway safety and reduce deaths and serious injuries due to crashes. The SHSO is also involved with the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance (VHSA) which has allowed us to build upon a network of highway safety professionals, working in collaboration to increase highway safety through these federally funded programs.

The SHSO has an in-house staff of three Program Coordinators with specific subject matter areas of expertise, to include Occupant Protection, Distracted Driving, Impaired Driving, Law Enforcement (DUI and OP Enforcement) and Education Outreach programs. The staff of the SHSO manages state highway safety grant funds by providing guidance, oversight and monitoring for our partners. 

The programs administered through the SHSO are federally funded through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Our programs are defined and approved each year in the SHSO Highway Safety Plan (HSP) and align with the State’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). Through these plans, we analyze data, identify problems, define emphasis areas, and set goals in order to administer funds to programs in a responsible manner in accordance with federal guidelines. 

The Vermont State Highway Safety Office programs are designed to educate drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists about highway safety. Our programs employ the use of countermeasures that focus primarily on the modification of driver’s behavior and attitude.

 

 

 

 

Vermont Fatalities

As of March 11, 2024
Vermont Highway Safety
Data Unit (FARS) reports:

10 Fatalities Total.  

06 vehicle operators
01 Passenger
02 Pedestrians
01 Bicyclist 

Fatal Crashes March 5 - March 11, 2024

 Year 

Fatalities  

2010

71

2011

55

2012

77

2013

69

2014

44

2015

57

2016

62

2017

68

2018

69

2019

47

2020

62
2021

74

2022

76

2023

69*

*The 2023 data is not finalized. We do not have all of the final reports for the supporting data yet.  All numbers are still subject to change based on law enforcement investigations, toxicology reports and medical examiner determinations.  Thank you.

Public Crash Data Query Tool

Past FARS Numbers as
Reported by NHTSA

Vermont Highway Fatalities
1921 to 2017 (Graphed)