People like to make their mark in this world and often seek ways to leave a long-term legacy.

Those lofty goals can seem elusive but are easy to achieve through The ATSS Foundation Planned Giving program.

“By making The Foundation part of long-term financial planning, supporters can know they are making a difference beyond their lifetimes,” Foundation Director Lori Diaz said.

Planned giving can be set up in multiple ways in consultation with a financial advisor or estate planner.

The Spring Issue of Roadway Safety magazine is online now and explores Ohio’s Smart Mobility Corridor along Interstate 33 between Dublin and East Liberty.

This 35-mile stretch of roadway in Northeast Ohio is a living laboratory where multiple organizations are testing automated and connected vehicle technology including ways to protect pedestrians. The project is a partnership between private industry and government entities as well as residents in those communities and has been dubbed “the world’s most connected highway.”

Convention Extra is also online and provides a commemorative of the 2022 Convention & Traffic Expo in Tampa, Fla., and an opportunity to see what you missed if you didn't attend this reunion of the roadway safety industry.

3M raised $15,279 this year for The ATSS Foundation through its Toward Zero Deaths pledge wall.

The fundraiser ran from Jan. 1 through the final day of ATSSA’s 52^nd Annual Convention & Traffic Expo.

“As the new ATSS Foundation Chair, I can't express enough how grateful I am for support from companies like 3M that share the vision with us to help families that have experienced such horrific work zone tragedies,” said Kevin Shelton. “3M’s yearslong commitment to hosting the pledge wall is a testament to its compassion for the families that have lost a loved one or had one permanently disabled by a work zone incident. It is also a testament to 3M’s commitment to working toward the goal of zero deaths on the nation’s roadways.”

Hill & Smith of Columbus, Ohio, raised $28,000 for The ATSS Foundation through an auction held online Jan. 19 through Feb. 2.

The company’s mission is to develop and produce safety-focused products and solutions to protect roadway workers and people traveling the nation’s roadways. That mission aligns with The Foundation’s core purpose to promote roadway safety through charitable giving and public awareness programs, which is why the company chose to hold the fundraiser.

“We are grateful for Hill & Smith’s decision to hold the auction and donate this roadway safety item,” said Foundation Chair Kevin Shelton.

ATSSA’s 2022 Convention & Traffic Expo brought together more than 3,200 roadway safety advocates over five days in Tampa, Fla.

They collaborated, networked, learned about the latest innovations and even cheered on their favorite team at the Chairman’s Big Game Watch Party on Sunday evening.

Keynote speaker Scott Moore kept the packed crowd in the Ballroom of the Tampa Convention Center spellbound as he shared leadership and teamwork tips gleaned from his decades leading the elite Navy SEALs on “no fail” missions.

And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talked about the USDOT commitment to zero deaths on the nation's roadways while acknowledging that may not be achieved during his tenure but that ATSSA's members are needed to achieve that goal.

It's not too early to start planning now for next  year. The 2023 Convention & Traffic Expo takes place in Phoenix, Feb. 17-21 at the Phoenix Convention Center with the theme of “where roadway safety and Innovation intersect.”

ATSSA’s Annual Report for 2021 is now available. This year’s theme is “Resilience & Records” and lays out the many achievements that took place across the Association in a year that posed significant challenges for our members such as supply chain disruptions and a nationwide worker shortage.

The report opens with a letter from President & CEO Stacy Tetschner who touches on issues from passage of the bipartisan infrastructure package to the creation of a Roadway Worker Protection Council, which emerged from the 2021 Convention & Traffic Expo.

The report also includes a list of company members that joined ATSSA in the last year, a review of updates to ATSSA’s training options and insights gained from a member survey commissioned in 2021 as well as other highlights from the past year.

ATSSA’s 2022 Convention & Traffic Expo reunites members of the roadway safety infrastructure in Tampa, Florida, for five days of education, innovation, collaboration and inspiration.

We anticipate nearly 3,000 in attendance this year, including more than 150 department of transportation (DOT) officials representing 40 states.

“I’m looking forward to taking part in the first in-person Convention & Traffic Expo of my tenure,” said ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner, who joined the Association in March 2020. “Last year’s virtual event exceeded my expectations but I know for our members nothing can replace the tangible and intangible advantages of gathering in person with other industry experts so I am eager to be part of the experience.”

The names of 10 men who were killed while working in a roadway work zone have been added to the National Work Zone Memorial.

Their deaths took place as long ago as March of 1966 and as recently as November 2021. Each man had reported for another day of work when tragedy struck, leaving behind wives, sons, daughters and parents to grieve.

The addition of these 10 men for 2022 brings the total number of lives honored on the National Work Zone Memorial to 1,602.

A work zone tragedy shouldn’t mean the end of the dreams and aspirations for the worker’s children or spouse.

Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships, offered by The American Traffic Safety Services (ATSS) Foundation, can help put the worker’s dependents on the road to a brilliant future.

Applications for the 2022-23 academic year are due by Feb. 15.

The Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship Program provides financial assistance for post-high school education to the children or spouse of a roadway worker killed or permanently disabled in a work zone incident. Applicants who demonstrate a strong commitment to volunteerism may be eligible to receive an additional $1,000 in honor of Chuck Bailey, an esteemed member of the roadway safety industry from Ohio who died in 2002 as a result of an accident.

The pandemic kept countless people off the roads but that didn’t mean roadway workers were safer. In fact, reports from across the country showed many of the drivers out during that time took the opportunity to accelerate with some traveling in excess of 100 mph.

That put roadway workers, who were still on the job, at greater danger and some paid the ultimate price.

The American Traffic Safety Services (ATSS) Foundation honors the men and women killed in roadway work zone incidents by including their names on the National Work Zone Memorial. The list of names is updated each year with the submissions  received by Dec. 1.