Funding to the tune of $75,000 is being made available to keep young people safe in Missouri, Oregon and Washington while walking, biking or riding scooters.

The State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) in the three states will each receive $25,000 for youth safety initiatives in areas with limited financial resources. The funding is being provided for the fourth straight year by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF).

Preventable traffic crashes are one of the leading causes of death for young people in the United States. In 2022, the last year of complete data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,129 children died in crashes – an average of three deaths every day.

“We owe it to our nation’s youth to do everything possible to keep them safe as they’re walking, biking and scooting,” said GHSA CEO Jonathan Adkins. “Too many communities are grappling with the impacts of dangerous driving and reduced enforcement. Empowering states to work directly with community groups can be a model to improve roadway safety for youth across the country.”

The 2025 grants will fund the following safety programs:

  • The Missouri State Highway Safety Office will utilize their network of seven regional Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety chapters to coordinate and host at least ten traffic garden events at rural or high-priority elementary schools across the state. A traffic garden is a set of small-sized streets with scaled-down traffic features where children practice and learn safety skills in a fun place that is free from motor vehicles.
  • The Oregon Department of Transportation, in partnership with Thrive Umpqua’s Safe Routes to School Program, will purchase a fleet of 40 bicycles, helmets and safety materials that will be used to provide hands-on bike safety education to students in at least seven low-income rural schools.
  • The Washington Traffic Safety Commission and partner Asotin County Community Services will develop a permanent traffic garden, a mobile pop-up traffic garden and a corresponding traffic safety curriculum that teaches Pre-K through middle school-age children how to walk and roll safely in Asotin and Garfield Counties.