The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced the preliminary agenda for its upcoming forum, Reaching Zero: Actions to Eliminate Substance-Impaired Driving.

The forum, which will be held in Washington on May 15-16, will feature a series of panels comprised of subject matter experts from academia, research and advocacy organizations, industry, and state and federal agencies. Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman will chair the forum, with all five Board Members participating.
The topic areas will be:

• Current state of affairs
The Substance: How alcohol and drugs affect the driver and how impairment is measured.
The Problem: Description of the individuals who drive impaired, the scope of the substance-impaired driving problem through crash/injury/fatality data, and the challenges in collecting the data.

• Interventions
Education and Outreach: The role of education and outreach in changing substance-impaired driving behavior.
Enforcement: How impaired drivers are identified and arrested and the role that insurance companies can play to “enforce” sober driving.
Consequences: The benefits and challenges that the judicial system faces in dealing with substance-impaired drivers.

• Further intervention opportunities
Prevention: Proactive non-judicial measures to prevent substance-impaired driving.
International Perspectives: How other countries address substance-impaired driving and how those programs may be relevant in the United States.

• Next steps
Reaching Zero: Representatives from government, advocacy organizations, industry, and other key constituencies discuss the practical concerns and actions needed to eliminate substance-impaired driving.

More information is available on the Substance-Impaired Driving Forum web page.