Research Plans for 2003

The AAA Foundation motto is "Saving lives through research and education." Our research program is the most vital part of our mission, and the bulk of the Foundation's budget is dedicated to investigating the causes and prevention of traffic crashes. "We're trying to refine our research process to make sure we have a good, solid menu of projects," says Dr. Scott Osberg, the Foundation's research director. "The new process requires more work on our part, but will result in a more focused and higher-quality research agenda."

The new process began in May, when Dr. Osberg sent out a request for pre-proposals to organizations, individuals, AAA Clubs, and other entities. By September 1 the Foundation had received 88 pre-proposals, ranging from detailed descriptions of possible strategies to suggestions about traffic safety topics that should be investigated. Dr. Osberg, along with Dr. Bella Dinh-Zarr, head of AAA Traffic Safety Policy, and AAA Club experts pruned the list to include 29 projects. These will be further reduced down to approximately a dozen projects. Finalists will be selected at the annual Research and Development meeting in February.