State-Based Profiles on Restraint Use and Alcohol-Impaired Driving

CDC NCIPC

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among children and young adults in the United States. There are known effective strategies for reducing this burden, but they are often underused. State and local health departments play an important role in disseminating information to the public and their partners about evidence-based strategies that can reduce the impact of motor vehicle crashes in their state.

Westat is working with CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control's Transportation Safety Team to create a series of profiles for each state and the District of Columbia that illustrate the burden of motor vehicle crash injuries and deaths related to both restraint use and alcohol-impaired driving. Each profile includes state-specific data and laws, as well as a summary of evidence-based strategies that could help states improve as needed.

Westat’s subject matter experts in transportation safety first analyzed various data sources including CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and other publicly available data sets to identify relevant variables to measure across each state. Once the data were collected and analyzed, Westat's plain language experts and graphics team worked closely to design an infographic template that succinctly presents the information and makes it shareable among health departments partners and stakeholders. Our communications research team tested the profiles with the target audience; results were used to refine the materials and prepare them for CDC clearance review.

The profiles are currently in the later stages of production. The final 102 profiles will be available for dissemination through CDC’s website in late 2014.