Native Americans and traffic safety.

Motor vehicle injuries take an enormous toll among members of the American Indian and Alaskan Native communities. Two Native Americans die each day from alcohol or other drug-related motor vehicle crashes. These crashes are the leading cause of death among children in those communities. Members of some tribes die in motor vehicle crashes at rates six times that of Americans of other ethnic backgrounds. The Indian Health Service (IHS) is the federal agency with primary responsibility for providing federal health and safety services to Native Americans and assisting tribes in delivering health services on reservation lands. IHS staff collaborate with Native American communities, tribal governments, and state agencies on issues including impaired driving, occupant protection, pedestrian safety, and data collection. However, a number of special circumstances complicate attempts to prevent traffic injuries among Native Americans. Implementing effective traffic safety efforts in Native American communities requires a thorough knowledge of their specific culture, which is why IHS Injury Prevention staff involves the community in the design and implementation of injury prevention programs. The Indian Highway Safety Programs (IHSP) division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provides the 543 federally recognized Indian tribes with about $500,000 of NHTSA-administered Section 402 monies annually. The priority for use of these funds is programs seeking to reduce the number of people who drive while intoxicated. Tribes have used their grants to train tribal police on the use of sobriety checkpoints (and pay overtime for officers to staff these checkpoints) and for various DWI education programs. Applications for these grants are available from the IHSP every February. IHSP also works with the Indian Health Service and state agencies to facilitate traffic safety programs. NHTSA is also directly funding some traffic safety programs for Native Americans. NHTSA awarded a grant to the Navajo Nation that focuses on impaired driving. The grant will allow the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission to conduct a problem identification study, develop culturally specific strategies and approaches, and develop culturally appropriate public information and educational materials. Research has shown that the stress of relocation or displacement can cause increases in such problems. Two areas that were heavily affected by relocation, but that also contain populations that were not displaced, have been chosen as pilot areas for the grant. A survey will help define and quantify the problem, provide a comparison with a control group who are unaffected by relocation, and provide information on what prevention strategies may be effective in resolving this problem.