Governor's Highway Safety Office - Multi-Cultural Diversity
en español
Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office, in cooperation with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, recognizes the need for diversity as we continue efforts to improve traffic safety programs and partnerships through out our communities. Research has shown that traffic safety problems disproportionately affects minority communities, for this reason, GHSO has established a Multi-Cultural Community Development Program that is committed to working with diverse groups to create, implement, evaluate and market culturally specific programs and materials to raise greater awareness within diverse communities about the importance of seat belt safety.
Under the direction of Kendell Poole, GHSO is contributing to this initiative by collaborating with various faith and community based organizations in Tennessee to form partnerships and host seat belt safety “Life Saving” events. Our social marketing outreach strategy targets four major ethnic communities: African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans.
Some Important Facts That You Should Know:- Every 13 minutes someone is killed in a crash
- Every year 3,000 children ages 4 to 8 are killed in car crashes
Crash statistics among ethnic groups:
| Ethnic Groups | Death Statistics |
| African-American | Leading cause among males through age 14 Second leading cause among males 15-24 |
| Hispanic | Leading
cause of death ages 1-34 Third leading cause of all age groups behind heart disease and cancer |
| Pacific/Asian | Leading cause of death for ages 1-12 |
| Alaska/Native-Americans | Leading cause of death for ages 1-44 |
Our overall goal here at GHSO is shared with NHTSA,
and that is to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities that occur
on Tennessee Highways and their associated cost. We are making great
progress in this area. However, much work is still needed in minority
communities before we will notice any significant decrease in our
states highway fatality rates given these groups make up the majority
of the deaths.
For additional information regarding Multi-Cultural Community
Outreach, please contact:
Deborah Scruggs
Diversity Program Manager
Office: 615.532.3149
Fax: 615.253.5523
Deborah.Scruggs@tn.gov
