Performance Evaluation of Safe Mobility for Life Coalition’s Outreach Activities to Benefit Aging Road Users
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Summary
This study evaluates the performance and safety impact of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Safe Mobility for Life (SMFL) Coalition outreach activities, which aim to improve safety and mobility for aging road users. Motivated by Florida’s rapidly aging population—projected to exceed 20% of residents aged 65+ by 2045—and a 41% rise in fatalities involving older drivers between 2012 and 2016, the research seeks to quantify the effectiveness of SMFL’s interventions. The study addresses the vulnerability of older adults to crashes due to age-related declines in vision, cognition, and reaction time, particularly in vehicle-pedestrian incidents. The methodology involved three primary components: identifying target regions, reviewing outreach efforts, and quantifying safety impacts. First, researchers conducted a GIS-based hot spot analysis using crash data from 2017 to 2021, socioeconomic variables, and roadway characteristics to identify high-risk Census Block Groups (CBGs). Urban and rural counties were analyzed separately. Second, the study reviewed SMFL’s outreach activities, including the distribution of over 200,000 educational materials, community workshops, public service announcements (PSAs), and social media campaigns. Third, a cross-sectional study compared crash rates in ZIP Codes that received outreach materials ("treated") against those that did not ("untreated"). Propensity score matching was employed to ensure comparable groups, and interviews with program implementers provided qualitative insights into best practices and challenges. The results identified specific high-risk areas: urban hot spots were concentrated in Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Collier counties, while rural hot spots were found in Flagler, Hardee, Highlands, and Putnam counties. Quantitative analysis revealed that outreach efforts were associated with a significant reduction in crash rates in treated ZIP Codes. A benefit-cost analysis yielded a ratio of 5.03, indicating that every dollar spent on distributing educational materials generated approximately five dollars in crash-related cost savings. Qualitative findings highlighted the importance of inclusive messaging, community partnerships, and interactive engagement, while noting challenges such as reaching diverse audiences with varying technology familiarity. The study concludes that SMFL’s data-driven outreach strategies are both effective and cost-efficient in reducing crashes involving aging road users. The findings support the continued implementation of targeted interventions in identified high-risk regions. Recommendations for future efforts include increasing the frequency of educational material distribution in target areas, enhancing documentation of PSAs, employing interactive tools during workshops to boost engagement, and leveraging local community champions to advocate for outreach events. These measures aim to sustain improvements in road safety, supporting the mobility and independence of Florida’s older adults through structured, evidence-based strategies.
Key finding
Distribution of educational materials to aging road users resulted in a significant reduction in crash rates, with a benefit-cost ratio of 5.03 indicating five dollars in crash-related cost savings for every dollar spent.
Methodology
mixed_methods
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 19 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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Information type
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- Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
- Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes
- Methodological Resource: dataset resource