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What’s on the Agenda for the 2025 New York State Highway Safety Symposium?

The 2025 NYS Highway Safety Symposium aims to revitalize our state’s efforts to improve traffic safety. We acknowledge that the traditional pillars of traffic safety — engineering, enforcement, and education — have encountered challenges that tested their established practices. Now is the time to renew our commitment to safer driving and roadways in New York State. Together, let’s collaborate and innovate on projects and initiatives to enhance road safety across the state, aiming to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities. This symposium will unite safety professionals and stakeholders, including law enforcement, traffic engineers, policymakers, public health officials, and community organizations.

Keynote Speaker

Sheriff Michael Lewis, Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland
Elected November 2006, and now serving his fourth consecutive four-year term, Sheriff Lewis has worked tirelessly to transform the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland into one of superior service to its citizens, an office that is very proactive while on patrol, while providing its officers and command staff with the tools and resources they need to educate the public and build sustainable community relationships. He is recognized as an expert in the areas of highway interdiction, hidden compartments, and drug valuation.

Presentations & Topics:

  • Addressing Roadway Safety at the SUNY UB Transportation Research and Visualization Laboratory – Austin Angulo, University at Buffalo – SUNY
  • Advancing Highway Operational Strategies Through Connected and Automated Vehicle-Driven Data and Safety Performance Measures – Jingqin Gao, C2SMARTER Center, New York University
  • An Interactive Sample of Law Enforcement Training Courses – Panel Presentations
  • Analyze Safety Impacts of Lane-changing Behaviors in Highway Traffic – Dachuan Zuo, C2SMARTER Center, New York University
  • Benefits of Non-intrusive Detection at Traffic Signals – Christina Doughney, NYS Department of Transportation
  • Creating Youth Transportation Safety Advocates Through Opportunity – Stacey Tisdale, Texas A&M Transportation Institute – Youth Transportation Safety Program
  • Criminal Charges in Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes – Christine Savoia, Niagara County District Attorney’s Office
  • Distracted and Impaired Driving: A Personal Perspective – Pam O’Donnell, Catch You Later Foundation
  • Emerging Issues in Commercial Vehicle Safety & Enforcement – Jonathan Nicastro, NYS Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic Safety and Mobility
  • Emilee’s Challenge – James Allard, Steuben County Sheriff’s Office
  • Helping State and Local Municipalities Prepare for and Respond to Severe Weather – Ethan Burwell, NYS Weather Risk Communication Center
  • Highway Safety Community Engagements with Special Needs Populations – Panel Discussion
  • How to Grow a Traffic Garden: Planting the Seeds of Road Safety – Joe Mushock, Cayuga County Health Department
  • Learn About the New Police Crash Report (MV104P) – Panel Discussion
  • Lessons from New Jersey v. Olenowski – Erik Daab, New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
  • Leveraging Academic and Industry Partnerships to Optimize NYSDOT Bridge Deck and Highway Railing Designs – Frank DarConte, C2SMARTER Center, New York University
  • MADD’s Underage Substance Use Programming – Cara Rosebeck, MADD New York (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
  • Micro-modal, multi-agent extended reality simulation to improve safety with connected automated vehicles (CAVs) – Chaozhe He, University at Buffalo – SUNY
  • Mind on the Road: The Intersection of Mental Health & Safe Driving – Lauren Zimmerman-Meade and Louis Pratt, SADD, Inc.
  • Motorcycle Safety Trends and Strategies for a Safer Ride – Mary Harding, NYS Department of Transportation
  • Navigating the Evolving Vehicular Crimes Landscape: Legal Updates and Emerging Challenges – Stephanie Dellinger, Office of the District Attorney, Suffolk County
  • Neighborhood Traffic Calming and the City of Syracuse’s Approach to Connecting Neighborhoods – Effective Tools to Reduce Speeds in Neighborhoods – Tim Faulkner, Fisher Associates
  • Implementing 25 MPH in Your Community – New York Bicycling Coalition
  • New York State Motorcycle Safety Program – Brandi Behling, New York State Motorcycle Safety Program (NYMSP)
  • Partnerships Advance Road Safety in New York State Through the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) – Michael Bauer, New York State Department of Health
  • Pedestrian Safety in a Vehicle Centric World – Aisha Phillips, Dutchess County Department of Health
  • Predicting and Recommending Safe Driving Speeds Using High-Resolution Connected Vehicle and Weather Data: A Machine Learning Approach – Wen Zhang, University at Buffalo
  • Think Tank: Diverse Stakeholder Collaborations – Panel Discussion
  • Traffic Enforcement Training – Sheriff Michael Lewis, Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office
  • Traffic Incident Management (TIM) – Panel Discussion
  • Traffic Safety – A Core Mission of Policing – NYS Association of Chiefs of Police, Inc
  • Trust in Automation: A Driving Simulator Analysis (Broader Impacts, Methodology, and Implementation) – Kevin Hulme, The Stephen Still Institute for Sustainable Transportation
  • Underreporting of Phone Use in Police Crash Reports – Aimee Cox, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
  • Updates on the NYS Driver Point System – Joshua Vinciguerra, NYS Department of Motor Vehicles
  • Use of E-Bikes, ATVs, and UTVs: What Can Be Done – Panel Discussion
  • Utilizing CLEAR for Safety Analysis: A Case Study Approach – Robert Zitowsky, NYS Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic Safety and Mobility
  • Vision Zero Safety Action Plans – Carrie Ward, Capital Region Transportation Council
  • What All Drivers Should Know About Motorcycles – Bruce LePorte, Traveling Memorial Wall for Fallen Bikers, Inc.
  • Why Are Young Drivers So Anxious Behind the Wheel? Uncovering the Hidden Causes and Impacts on Perceived Driving Skills – Gongda Yu, University at Buffalo – SUNY
  • Working Together to Achieve a Safe Work Zone (AWZSE) – Michael Fariello, NYS Thruway Authority

(All presentations and speakers are subject to change)

We hope you’ll join us October 14 –17, 2025, at the Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center in Oswego, New York. You can register at https://nyshighway2025.eventbrite.com

Who Attends the New York State Highway Safety Symposium?

Don’t miss this chance to connect with your peers, gain new perspectives, and contribute to the ongoing effort to improve highway safety in New York State. The 2025 New York State Highway Safety Symposium will take place at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center in Oswego, New York from Tuesday, October 14 to Friday, October 17, 2025.

Together, let’s collaborate and innovate on projects and initiatives to enhance road safety across the state, aiming to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities. This symposium will unite safety professionals and stakeholders, including law enforcement, traffic engineers, policymakers, public health officials, and community organizations.

Take a peek at the organizations the 300+ attendees came from in 2024!

AAA – American Automobile Association
ADAC of Orange County
Albany County Department of Health
Albany County District Attorneys Office
Albany County DPW Traffic Safety Education
Albany County Sheriff’s Office
ALL4UDAD
Bolton-St. Johns
Broome County Health Department
Broome County Office of Emergency Services
Broome County Probation Department
Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Capital Region Transportation Council
Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office
Cayuga County Sheriff Department
Cheektowaga Police Dept
Chenango County Sheriff’s Office
City of Albany Police Department
City of Kingston Police Department
City of Peekskill Police Department
Clinton County STOP DWI
CMI, Inc.
Cohoes Police Department
Colonie Police Department
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office
Columbia University
Cornell Cooperative Extension Livingston County
Cortland County Health Department
Cortland County Sheriff’s Office
County Of Monroe
Delaware County Sheriff’s Office
Department of Public Safety, Monroe County, NY
Drive Educated Drive Informed Commit and Totally End Drunk Driving
Dutchess County Department of Health
EAC, Network
Erica Breuer
Erie County District Attorney
Erie County Probation
Erie County Probation Department
Erie County Sheriff’s Office
FaceTec
Franklin County DA
Franklin County District Attorney
Greenberg Traurig
Greene County Sheriffs Office
Herkimer County
Hornell Police Department
Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Rochester
Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research
Intoximeters
Irondequoit Police Department
Jason Schechterle
Jefferson STOP DWI
Lewis County Probation
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office
Madison County Sheriff’s Office
Malone Police Department
Malverne Police Department
Michael Roach Creative
Mohawk Police Department
Monroe County / Dept. of Public Safety
Monroe County Office of Traffic Safety
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
Montgomery County Public Health
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Nassau County District Attorney’s Office
National Judicial College
New York Bicycling Coalition
New York Presbyterian
New York State Association of Chiefs of Police
New York State Department of Health
New York State Department of Health Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention
New York State Department of Labor
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
New York State Department of Transportation
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee
New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS)
New York State Park Police
New York State Police
New York State University Police – Oswego
New York State University Police Forensic Investigation Center
Niagara County District Attorney
Niagara County Sheriff’s Office of Traffic Safety
Niagara Falls Police Department
Nuvance Health
NY Coalition for Transportation Safety
NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services Office of Public Safety
NYS STOP-DWI Association, Inc.
NYS STOP-DWI Foundation, Inc.
NYS Tug Hill Commission
Oneida County
Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office
Ontario County Public Health
Ontario County Sheriff’s Office
Orange Co. Dept. of Emergency Services
Orange County STOP-DWI
Orchard Park Police Department
Oswego City Police Department
Oswego County Probation
Oswego County Probation Department
Oswego County Sheriff’s Office
Oswego County Sheriff’s Office
Putnam County Probation
Putnam County Youth Bureau
Recovery Monitoring Solutions
Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office
Rensselaer County STOP DWI
Rochester Police Department
Rockland County Department of Health
Rockland County, New York
SADD – Students Against Destructive Decisions
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police
Saranac Lake High School
Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office
Saratoga Springs Police Department
Schenectady County Probation
Schenectady County Sheriff’s Office
Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office
Seneca County Health Department
Seneca CountySheriff’s Office
St. Lawrence County Community Services
St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office
Stalker Radar | Street Dynamics
Steuben County Sheriff’s Office
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Suffolk County Police Department
Syracuse Police Department
The Center (Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees)
Town of Chester Police Department
Town of Cicero Police Department
Town Of Gates Police
Town of Greece Police Department
Town of Ramapo Police Department
Ulster County
Ulster County Sheriff’s Office
United Way of Seneca County
Upstate University Hospital- Trauma Services
USDOT, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Region 2
Village of Frankfort Police Department
Warren County Sheriff’s Offfice
Washington County Sheriff’s Office
Watertown Police Department
Watertown Police Dept
Wayne County Sheriff’s Office
West Seneca Police Department
Westchester City Dept of Public Safety
Westchester County Dept of Public Safety (WCPD)
Westchester County Police

 

Sponsored by the NYS Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, the NYS Association of Traffic Safety Boards, and the NYS STOP-DWI Association, Inc.

New York State Traffic Safety Fact Sheets

Looking for reliable information on traffic safety in New York State? Each year, ITSMR publishes fact sheets on a variety of traffic safety topics. You can view the Latest Fact Sheets on our website and explore historical ones at https://www.itsmr.org/research-and-reports/latest-fact-sheets/

Topics include:

  • Large Truck Crashes
  • Distracted Driving
  • Cell Phone Use
  • Impaired Driving
  • Motorcycle Crashes
  • Pedestrians in Motor Vehicle Crashes
  • Speeding
  • Crashes Involving Young Drivers

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year. It is a high-profile global event to remember the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured on the world’s roads and to acknowledge the suffering of all affected victims, families and communities – millions added each year to countless millions already suffering: a truly tremendous cumulative toll. On WDR we also pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police, and medical professionals who deal daily with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes.

The following cities in New York State are hosting events:

Albany, NY
Rochester, NY
New York City, NY

ITSMR News

ITSMR offers a variety of services to local, state and national agencies and organizations seeking to reduce motor vehicle crashes, fatalities and injuries. See our latest research and projects on our News page.