Skip to main content

GHSA presents 2019 highway safety awards

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has presented its road safety awards to two individuals and four programmes in the US. Candace Lightner, president of We Save Lives - a non-profit organisation which focuses on reducing drunk, drugged and distracted driving - won the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award. She is also the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) global programme manager Jim Graham received the Kathryn J.R. Swanson Publi
August 28, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The 4948 Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has presented its road safety awards to two individuals and four programmes in the US.


Candace Lightner, president of We Save Lives - a non-profit organisation which focuses on reducing drunk, drugged and distracted driving - won the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award. She is also the founder of 4949 Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) global programme manager Jim Graham received the Kathryn J.R. Swanson Public Service Award. During his tenure with Ford DSFL, he has brought free, hands-on advanced driver training to newly licensed drivers. Graham and the Ford DSFL programme helped launch GHSA’s state grant programme, which provides funding to help states augment their existing teen safe driving efforts.

Additionally, GHSA presented four Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Awards for outstanding highway safety accomplishments to the following programmes:

• The Connecticut Superior Court's Online Adjudication system enables individuals who plead ‘not guilty’ to an infraction to participate in the court process electronically, rather than be required to physically appear in court.
• The Montana Family, Career and Community Leaders of America's Traffic Safety Programme provides public and private school students traffic safety training depending on students' grade levels.
• The South Dakota Office of Highway Safety's ‘Jim Reaper’ campaign inserts a Grim Reaper character into the lives of everyday people as a reminder that making decisions such as wearing a seat belt or helmet can prevent death.
• The Washington Regional Alcohol Programme (WRAP) has removed tens of thousands of drunk drivers from the region’s roads through its SoberRide programme. In 2017, WRAP partnered with 8789 Lyft to assist with the programme, which saw utilisation increase by more than 300%.

The presentations took place at GHSA’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Columbus, Ohio is named Smart Cities Dive’s city of 2018
    December 5, 2018
    Columbus, Ohio has been named City of the Year in the Smart Cities Dive website’s awards for its work on transit and electrification. The US city won the US Department of Transportation’s inaugural Smart City Challenge two years ago – and is rolling out a variety of smart city-related programmes. Smart Cities Dive said the city’s “biggest area of progress this year” has been its increased reliance on electric vehicles (EVs), including in its bus fleet and other government vehicles. City authoritie
  • Plug’n Drive commence used EV programme in Ontario
    April 18, 2019
    Plug’n Drive has launched a programme which offers CAN$1,000 off the purchase of a used electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (EV) for drivers in Ontario, Canada. Cara Clairman, president and CEO of Plug’n Drive, a non-profit organisation, says: "Used EVs are affordable and available, and this incentive will help more people join the EV revolution." The programme was realised through a collaboration with environmental organisation Clean Air Partnership and local business M.H Brigham Foundation.
  • Dundee trial offers insight into delivering MaaS in smaller urban and rural areas
    March 27, 2018
    A MaaS trial in Scotland will evaluate the attraction of such services for young people living in small cities and rural areas. Colin Sowman reports. It is often said that Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is fine in big cities - but what about smaller towns and rural areas? Well, the city of Dundee in Scotland has only around 150,000 people but is set to provide some answers with its trial of NaviGoGo, a MaaS operation aimed at 16-25 year olds – be they students, working or unemployed. By population, Dundee
  • Former US DoT boss says job was sometimes like ‘sitting over trapdoor’
    November 30, 2018
    The political pressure on transit organisations was starkly highlighted by the distinguished former boss of Michigan Department of Transportation at a UK conference this week. Kirk Steudle, who joined Econolite recently after a career in the public sector, said he often felt as though there was “a trapdoor under your seat” while he was in charge of state transportation. Talking about the development of ITS solutions at regional authority level, he said: “The ability to move forward is largely dependen