National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 2019 Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving Prevention Campaign.
Each year, St. Patrick’s Day - March 17 - is celebrated with city parades, funny leprechaun hats, and plenty o’ green beer. Unfortunately, it often ends with risky drunk drivers taking to the streets when the parties end. Drunk driving accounts for nearly one-third of vehicle-related fatalities in the United States. This St. Patrick’s Day weekend, remember: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving. If you plan to go out and enjoy the evening with alcohol, make sure you refrain from driving. Review these facts and share the word about the dangers of drunk driving so you can continue merry-making for all the St. Paddy’s Days to come.
National Campaign Information - Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over for enforcement, or Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving for social norming.
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 are we located
The Vermont State Highway Safety Office - Behavioral Safety Unit 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 - Behavioral Safety Unit (SHSO-BSU) 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-BSU 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-BSU 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-BSU manages state highway safety grant funds by providing guidance, oversight and monitoring for our partners.
The programs administered through the SHSO-BSU are federally funded through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Our programs are defined and approved each year in the SHSO-BSU 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 - Behavioral Safety Unit 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.
