To  address safety goals, state highway safety offices distribute Section 402  funding to local agencies and state organizations, known as subgrantees,  that carry out traffic safety programs across the state. States Use Section 402 Grants to Address the Main Causes of Traffic Fatalities and State- Specific Safety Problems

Since fiscal year 1999, states have directed about 54 percent of their  Section 402 funding to traffic safety programs, such as traffic law  enforcement, aimed at reducing alcohol-impaired driving and unbelted  driving, the leading national causes of traffic fatalities and injuries. According to a NHTSA official, traffic law enforcement is a strategy used  primarily to reduce alcohol-impaired driving and increase safety belt use. NHTSA Has Improved the Consistency of Its Management Review Process and Instituted New Processes That Could Help to Assess the Impact of Its Oversight

NHTSA implemented both the requirement that it conduct management  reviews of states and territories on a 3-year schedule as well as our  recommendation to improve the consistency with which it uses these  reviews. NHTSA’s Management Review Recommendations Address Fundamental Management Principles and Could Be Analyzed at the National Level to Identify Common State Challenges

NHTSA’s management review recommendations—both its compliance- based findings and management considerations—address fundamental  management principles, and state officials with whom we spoke said the  review recommendations serve as a useful management tool and, in some  cases, helped them obtain needed resources from state leadership. We conducted such an analysis and found that states  experienced a number of common challenges such as needing to improve  monitoring of subgrantees—an issue the DOT IG also identified in its  report as a process in need of strengthening—and spending highway  safety grant funding in a more timely fashion. These challenges include  improving monitoring of subgrantees; resolving financial management issues such as ensuring that expenses  submitted by subgrantees were paid promptly and for the correct amounts  or that the state used federal planning and administration funds for staff  salaries only when appropriate;   strengthening planning processes and programming to better address    staffing issues such as clearly defining staff functions and the processes  staff should use to perform their roles, as well as providing necessary  training and development; improving implementation of safety programming, such as ensuring that  states have written requirements for subgrantees about how they manage  their programs and reports the state expects to receive regarding  subgrantee activities and progress toward milestones; and    spending grant funding in a timely fashion. These approaches are different from NHTSA’s management  reviews in that NHTSA focuses on aspects of a state’s highway safety  program that more directly address safety outcomes while management  reviews focus on improving grant management processes. Refinements to NHTSA’s Approaches Could Help States Improve Safety, but More Time Is Needed to Assess the Impact of Incentive Grants

While the national traffic fatality rate has declined, the number of traffic  fatalities has remained fairly level since 1997, as factors such as increases  in population and the number of vehicle miles traveled offset  improvements in the fatality rate. From 1997 through 2006, national traffic fatalities per  100 million vehicle miles traveled declined by approximately 14 percent,  from 1.65 to 1.41, while the number of fatalities remained fairly level at  about 43,000 per year during this time period (see fig. Yet, states with high total numbers of fatalities offer an opportunity to  save the greatest number of lives. However, current incentive grants are not specifically  designed to target states with low or average fatality rates but high  numbers of fatalities. NHTSA has worked to continually make  improvements to its oversight of states, including recent steps to further  improve the consistency of information available about its  recommendations. However, because some states with a high total  number of fatalities may not meet NHTSA’s selection criteria for a special  management review and may not elect to participate in an assessment,  these states may not receive an in-depth programmatic review that could  identify additional opportunities to reduce fatalities. To address these  issues, we examined (1) how states have used Section 402 funding to  achieve national safety goals, (2) the progress NHTSA has made toward  addressing consistency in the management review process, (3) how useful  NHTSA’s management reviews and recommendations are in improving  management of state safety programs, and (4) the approaches currently  available to improve safety outcomes.
Why GAO Did This Study

Traffic crashes kill thousands of Americans every year--in 2005, it was the leading cause of death among young Americans. To try to improve highway safety, Congress authorized a grant program overseen by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2003, GAO recommended that NHTSA improve the consistency of its management reviews, a key aspect of NHTSA's oversight. In response to a legislative mandate, GAO assessed (1) how states have used grant funding to address safety goals, (2) NHTSA's progress in improving consistency in its management reviews, (3) the usefulness of its management review recommendations, and (4) approaches to further improve safety. In performing this work, GAO reviewed traffic safety data, analyzed state spending patterns, conducted site visits with eight states, and interviewed agency officials.

What GAO Found

From fiscal year 1999 through 2007, states directed about 54 percent of NHTSA's State and Community Highway Safety formula grant funding toward programs, including traffic enforcement, that address the leading causes of traffic fatalities--alcohol-impaired driving and driving without a safety belt, both of which are national safety goals. States directed the rest of this grant funding to a variety of safety programs, many of which address national goals but some of which target state-specific safety challenges such as driving safely in winter weather. To address safety goals, state highway safety offices disperse federal funding to "subgrantees," such as local law enforcement or nonprofit agencies that carry out the safety programs. NHTSA implemented both Congress' requirement that it conduct management reviews of states and territories on a 3-year schedule as well as GAO's prior recommendation to improve the consistency with which it uses these reviews. GAO analyzed NHTSA's management reviews and identified some variation in how information was documented. However, in 2007 NHTSA took several steps, such as instituting a team to review the quality of management review reports, which should further improve the consistency of information contained in these reports--information NHTSA could use to assess the impact of its recommendations on state safety programs. GAO found NHTSA's management review recommendations useful because they are designed to address fundamental management principles such as improving program planning and ensuring states' compliance with statutes governing safety grants. Also, state officials said NHTSA's recommendations serve as a useful management tool. However, NHTSA does not analyze the recommendations on a national level to target its technical assistance to common state challenges. GAO conducted such an analysis and found that the recommendations revealed common state challenges such as the need to improve monitoring of subgrantee activities and expenditures, which helps ensure that funds are used for the intended purpose. NHTSA also frequently recommended that states spend grant funding more quickly, which NHTSA officials believed would expand safety programs and, in turn, improve safety. From 1997 through 2006, the national traffic fatality rate--the number of traffic fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled--declined 14 percent, but traffic fatalities remained at about 43,000 per year as factors such as increases in the number of miles driven offset the decrease in the rate. NHTSA uses several approaches to help states reduce fatalities, including requiring program reviews in states that are not making adequate progress in reducing alcohol-impaired driving and increasing safety belt use. Yet some states with low or average fatality rates but a high number of fatalities may not be eligible for a required review under NHTSA's current criteria. States with high total numbers of fatalities offer an opportunity to save the greatest number of lives, but for these states to receive an in-depth program review, the states must request and pay for such safety expertise.