Traffic-safety courses target vehicle fatalities Published April 15, 2004 By Staff Sgt. Melanie Streeter Air Force Print News WASHINGTON -- Air Force safety officials are unveiling four new traffic-safety programs in the coming months to battle the steady increase of traffic fatalities in the last four years.“While no age, gender or rank group is immune to vehicle crashes, statistically speaking, our most at-risk population is young enlisted (Airmen),” said Chief Master Sgt. Clifford Tebbe, Air Force Safety Center ground safety superintendent.While airmen basic through senior airmen make up 37 percent of the service’s workforce, they are the victims in 64 percent of fatal motor-vehicle crashes, Chief Tebbe said.“They need to hear three things,” he said. “They’re at risk, risk is manageable, and (they must) manage risk responsibly whenever and wherever they encounter it.”The first course, slated for release by May 1, is Introductory Traffic Safety, to be followed this summer by a course targeting supervisors. By late summer, the Intermediate Traffic Safety Course should be available, with production for the final course beginning in August or September, Chief Tebbe said.“This three-stage approach places traffic-safety and risk-management concepts before Airmen three times in their first 14 to 18 months of service,” he said. “The added supervisory piece is absolutely vital -- they’re our first line of detection and defense.”Traffic-safety courses are not new to the Air Force, but these programs differ from their predecessors in several key areas, the first being focus.“The Air Force has a very robust database portraying our mishap experience,” Chief Tebbe said. “We targeted our training efforts on the most represented behaviors: excessive speed for conditions, impaired driving, failure to use (seat belts and helmets) and fatigue.”The second difference is in approach. Previous courses taught material one block at a time, where the new courses break the material into three segments using a stair-step or building-block approach, the chief said.“We are not simply trying to teach concepts and skills,” he said. “We’re trying to communicate values. We want our Airmen to integrate risk management into their every activity, on and off duty, and specifically … when driving or operating a motorcycle.”To bring the message home, course designers got personal.“We are taking real Air Force mishaps, involving real (Airmen) and either using personal testimonials or case studies to make the link between what happened to someone else and what can happen to them,” Chief Tebbe said.He said the idea to update the courses came in feedback from the field and is all about prevention.“Our mishap database is full of lessons learned,” he said. “There is really nothing new in the causal arena -- speed kills, seat belts save lives, (and) impaired driving is perilous and stupid (because) alcohol first impairs judgment, (which is) arguably the most important skill in driving.“The real tragedy is that losses as a result of these three and other causes are 100-percent preventable,” he said. “We must get proactive. In the words of the late author, Sam Levenson, ‘You must learn from the mistakes of others -- you can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.’”