Eighteen-year-old Necie Basinger said she was "really surprised" when she heard that two out of three students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill return home with no alcohol in their blood streams on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. "I had this stereotypical picture of college as major parties and everything," the UNC-CH freshman from Kannapolis, N.C., said. "I guess it went against all that."  full story >>

"We can no longer cross the street. Where do I start to change things?" "What are the criteria for choosing between bicycle lanes and wide curb lanes?" "Are there pedestrian and bicycle safety programs available for children?" "In places where it snows, has anyone tried in-pavement crosswalk lights that flash?" Finding answers to general and technical questions like these just got easier thanks to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, a new center based at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC). Funded by a five-year grant awarded to HSRC this year by the Federal Highway Administration, the information center's goal is to provide communities with the resources they need to create safe places for walking and bicycling. full story >>

When Dr. Forrest Council began working at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center back in 1967, he felt like he had landed "a good summer job" to earn some money and get some work experience before going back to graduate school that fall. "At that point, I didn't know what I was going to do," he said. Only someone with a very good crystal ball could have told the 22-year-old N.C. State University graduate student that he would make his career at HSRC and would one day become it's director. full story >>

A new director has been named to head the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. Dr. H. Douglas Robertson, P.E., brings a wealth of experience to the position ranging from work in the public and private sectors to experience in academia and the military. full story >>