California Office of Traffic Safety Awards $850,000 Grant to the UC Irvine School of Medicine to Broaden the UC Traffic Safety Collaborative Program

Irvine, Calif., Jan. 28, 2026 — The UC Irvine School of Medicine announced today that it has received a $850,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to expand the work of the UC Traffic Safety Collaborative Program. Building on the progress and findings from the program's initial efforts, the expanded work will examine Orange County teen driver-parent relationships and their influence on driving practices during early teen driver licensure. The extended program will continue to build on now-established collaborative relationships with UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and the National Driving Simulation Consortium (composed of the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering and the Yale School of Medicine) using behavioral and high-fidelity driving simulation methods. This new award extends the grant period until September 2026.

"Parents are an incredibly important part of the formula for developing mindful, responsible, and safe teen drivers. However, the effects of this parent role do not exist in isolation; the road to making safe teen drivers is a bidirectional one with strong teen-parent relationships and communication," said Dr. Federico Vaca, professor of emergency medicine in the UC Irvine School of Medicine, and director of the Brain, Body & Behavior Driving Simulation Lab.

Grant funds will support various activities focused on young driver safety, including:

• Observational behavior study of teen-parent dyads with the incorporation of a high-fidelity driving simulation.
• Examining the effects of teen-parent relationships on teen driving behaviors.
• Recruitment of California and national subject matter experts to rigorously develop expert consensus on evidence-based best practice in equipping parents of teen drivers for the prevention of teen driving after drinking and teen recurrent driving after drinking (TR-DAD).

"This initiative represents what we can achieve through collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to saving lives," OTS Director Stephanie Dougherty said. "Early education and strong family engagement are key to building lifelong safe driving habits, and we're proud to support a program that brings together experts to make that vision a reality."

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
 

About the UC Irvine School of Medicine: Each year, the UC Irvine School of Medicine educates more than 500 medical students and over 180 PhD and MS students. Nearly 900 residents and fellows are trained at the UCI Medical Center and affiliated institutions. The School of Medicine offers multiple MD, PhD and MS degrees, and students are encouraged to pursue an expansive range of interests and options. The UC Irvine School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Accreditation and ranks among the top 50 nationwide for research. For more information, visit medschool.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.