Chapter 9: The Network Response: Building Structured Partnerships to Enhance Traffic Safety

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the rationale for and structure of organizational networks in support of traffic safety programming. It outlines the operational considerations and approaches important to both understanding network-based partnerships and improving their functionality. The chapter draws on conceptual and empirical studies of organizational networks in order to enhance the effectiveness of networks and integrate network-based approaches with the cultural orientation already present in traffic safety research and practice.

This chapter proceeds from the premise that, increasingly, efforts to impact traffic safety behaviors will be interconnected with other concerns, and that traffic safety initiatives will require engagement with organizations focused on concerns other than traffic safety. The implication of the ideas examined in this chapter is that traffic safety agencies will need to focus not just on traffic-related behaviors, but also on the strategic and operational coordination with other organizations. Doing so has the potential to create synergies that would be unachievable if agencies operation in isolation.