File - Blue Ridge Regional Crash Investigation Teams

Blue Ridge Transportation Safety
Board
Chairman
Howard Hall
Chief of Police, Roanoke County
hhall@roanokecountyva.gov
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the BRTSB is to coordinate
and promote traffic safety programs,
projects, and educational initiatives while
providing a professional network for
guidance and support within the region.
Composition of the Board
The BRTSB is composed of traffic safety
advocates from both public and private
sectors. The board is an entity where all
traffic safety advocates can come together
to share resources to reduce crashes and
improve highway safety. As an example,
the board may coordinate a specific effort
to reduce impaired driving throughout the
region during a particular timeframe. The
members of the board work cooperatively
to define both the enforcement and
educational efforts needed to complete the
initiative. Board members then apply their
own unique approaches to promote the
campaign.
BLUE RIDGE TRANSPORTATION
SAFETY BOARD
Vice Chairman
Dan Freeman
Trauma Outreach Coordinator,
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
dwfreeman@carilionclinic.org
Treasurer
Todd Cheyney
Police Detective, City of Salem
trcheyney@salemva.gov
Secretary
Tim Wyatt
Police Sergeant, Roanoke County
twyatt@roanokecountyva.gov
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION VISIT:
WWW.BLUERIDGECRASHTEAMS.ORG/BRTSB
A REGIONAL APPROACH TO
TRAFFIC SAFETY
Blue Ridge Transportation Safety Board
History of the Board
The Blue Ridge Transportation Safety
Board (BRTSB) was established in 1988
to meet the specific and direct traffic
safety needs of Central and Southwestern
Virginia. By working with one region of
the state, the BRTSB has been able to
develop enforcement and educational
programs tailored to meet the specific
needs occurring within its communities.
Since its inception, the board has
remained a resource for innovative and
regional approaches to traffic safety.
While the board has created many
initiatives to promote safety, below are
two of the most notable examples of
regional cooperation to develop specific
programs.
In 2001, the BRTSB started the
YOVASO (Youth of Virginia Speak Out
About Traffic Safety) Program in
response to the increasing number of
teenage-related traffic fatalities in
Virginia. YOVASO is a youth leadership
organization focused on saving the lives
of teen drivers by educating, encouraging,
and empowering teenagers to be traffic
safety advocates in their schools and
communities.
Only a few years later, the board created
the Blue Ridge Regional Crash
Investigation Teams to provide
experience/expertise, state of the art
equipment, training, and analysis
capabilities throughout Central and
Southwestern Virginia. The teams utilize
a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary
approach to investigate crashes and,
through support of the BRTSB, develop
effective community-based counter
measures for prevention.
The BRTSB represents and supports the
Roanoke Valley, New River Valley, and
the surrounding areas of Central,
Southside, and Southwestern Virginia.
•
•
•
•
Coordinate and provide oversight for
the Regional Crash Team.
•
Develop training opportunities to
support enforcement and educational
initiatives.
•
Provide an environment of advocacy
for traffic safety issues.
Goals of the Board
The goals of the Blue Ridge
Transportation Safety Board are designed
to help reduce the number and severity of
crashes as well as to improve the overall
safety for motorists in the communities
served. These include:
•
•
Coordinate regional traffic safety
initiatives designed to reduce traffic
crashes through the use of
enforcement, education, engineering,
and emergency response.
Support national and state-level traffic
safety priorities. These include
national enforcement/education
campaigns and Virginia’s Highway
Safety Plan.
Provide educational resources for the
prevention of traffic crashes. This
includes continued support for
YOVASO as well as other education/
outreach initiatives related to traffic
safety.
Serve as a resource for developing
data driven and evidence based
approaches to traffic safety.
Coordinate the enforcement efforts of
participating law enforcement
agencies targeted towards identified
problem areas and in conjunction with
the Virginia Highway Safety Office.