About Us

UMassSAFE is a multidisciplinary traffic safety research program housed in the University of Massachusetts Transportation Center in the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

At UMassSAFE, we seek to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes through the rigorous examination of safety-related data – both traditional and nontraditional – to better understand crashes, driver behavior, and related factors.

As part of the University we have access to unique resources. We are supported by state-of-the-art computer facilities including the Advanced Transportation Lab with full GIS capabilities and two full-scale driving simulators housed in the Human Performance Lab. Additionally, the University environment provides an ideal arena for an interdisciplinary approach to traffic safety research. We draw on resources from Mechanical Engineering, Statistics, Public Health, Computer Science and Public Policy.

Complementary to the opportunity for an interdisciplinary approach afforded by the University environment is the interdisciplinary nature of the UMassSAFE team. We have the unique ability to examine highway safety problems simultaneously from research and programming perspectives, allowing us to develop distinctive solutions to transportation safety problems. Idea exchange across disciplines – transportation engineering, public policy, public health, traffic safety education and enforcement – is combined with the application of a rigorous scientific structure of problem identification, program development and program evaluation. Our core function continues to be reducing the frequency and severity of crashes by methodically applying the best of research and the practical know-how of community practice.