Multicultural HTSA Outreach Web Site.

Dr. Jeffrey Runge, Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), unveiled the agency’s new multicultural outreach web site. The site makes customized traffic safety materials and information available to a myriad of potential users within the minority community.

“NHTSA is committed to working with diverse national and community groups to develop and market culturally specific programs and materials to raise awareness about the importance of traffic safety among all Americans,” Dr. Runge said. “It also collects our Spanish language highway safety materials in one place and underscores President Bush’s commitment to improving services to persons with limited English proficiency.”

A key focus of the multicultural outreach site is to provide valuable information about how minority communities are disproportionately affected by traffic safety problems. The site displays materials to help prevent crashes, save lives, educate, prevent injuries and reduce traffic related health care and other economic costs.

Latino/Hispanic (in Spanish and English), Black/African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native are among the populations to be served by this new web site, each with its own separate sections.

The web site, designed by a diverse group of NHTSA staff, recognizes that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the given age ranges: Hispanic (ages 1-44), African American (ages 1-14), Asian American (ages 1-24) and American Indian (ages 1-44).

“NHTSA’s multicultural web site is a good example of how NHTSA is expanding its outreach efforts to our nation’s diverse language and cultural communities to increase awareness of and encourage highway traffic safety,” said Hilda Crespo, vice president of ASPIRA Association, Inc., a national Latino youth organization. “The Spanish content will help my organization to better assist our Hispanic community.”

The site, http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/multicultural , contains research reports, statistics, complete kits, brochures, posters and camera-ready artwork for community groups to download, reprint, and distribute to their constituencies. In addition, visitors may order publications and other materials directly from the web site.