UGA’s Traffic Injury Prevention Institute was awarded a $650,000 grant from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to continue its statewide education programs in child passenger safety, parent-teen driving safety and senior driver education.
GTIPI has partnered with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for the past 26 years in designing and delivering education that improves driver and passenger safety across age groups. GTIPI, an outreach initiative of UGA Cooperative Extension through the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, continues to be a leading resource in traffic safety training and education in Georgia, said Don Bower, UGA professor emeritus and GTIPI project director.
Through this year’s grant, GTIPI will offer its four main training and community education initiatives: the National Child -Passenger Safety Technician Certification Program, Georgia Teens Ride with PRIDE (Parents Reducing Injuries and Driver Error), CarFit for senior drivers and the Online Safety Store. Each program area delivers adult education for consumers, safety professionals and community volunteers to address the most common causes of traffic injuries and fatalities for target age groups.
Law enforcement, emergency medical services, health departments, Cooperative Extension educators, fire departments and others across the state participate in GTIPI’s training and distribute educational materials. On-site training is conducted across the state at regional locations, as well as at GTIPI’s headquarters in Conyers.
Parents and young children benefit from safety professionals and volunteers who achieve national certification in the Child Passenger Safety Technician course.
GTIPI’s course, “Georgia Teens Ride with PRIDE,” is for parents and their new teen drivers.
The national CarFit program helps seniors stay behind the wheel longer and more safely.
“CarFit is a non-threatening way to educate seniors about how to stay safe and comfortable in their cars as their physical abilities change with age,” Bower said.
The Online Safety Store is a partnership between the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and GTIPI. Now in its sixth year, the store is the primary source statewide for print and electronic traffic safety resources for safety professionals and consumers.
