Irvine, Calif., Jan. 14, 2025 — UC Irvine School of Medicine announced today that it has received a $1.2 million grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety () to support its UC Traffic Safety Collaborative Program. The program will promote safe practices for young drivers and emphasize the prevention of impaired driving among young populations while capitalizing on collaboration across UC campuses. The grant program runs through September 2025.
"We are grateful to receive this grant, which will allow us to significantly establish and expand our UC Traffic Safety Collaborative Program,” said Dr. Federico Vaca, professor and executive vice chair of emergency medicine at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine. “Our multidisciplinary approach to address alcohol impairment among young drivers is pivotal to our pursuit of reducing crashes and preventing injuries on our roadways. Ultimately, we are working toward harnessing the power and value of important relationships that young drivers have with family and friends to address the prevention and elimination of impaired driving among youth so that they have the opportunity to enter a safe and fruitful early adulthood."
Grant funds will support various activities focused on young driver safety, including:
- Focus groups of teen drivers and parents of teen drivers that will discuss and address current sentiments, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors of safe and impaired driving practices.
- Conceptualize and develop initial best practices to prevent TR-DAD (teen recurrent driving after drinking).
- A comprehensive guide that addresses the prevention of TR-DAD, as well as equipping teens and parents with prevention skills and resources.
- Establish a multidisciplinary UC campus traffic safety collaboration that will expand statewide efforts to prevent crashes and integrate into a national behavioral driver safety consortium aimed at reducing and eliminating serious crash injuries and death.
- Training events to raise awareness about the importance of safe driving.
“Partnering with the UC Traffic Safety Collaborative aligns with our mission to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries on our roadways,” said OTS Acting Director Jessica Chan. “By focusing on young drivers and addressing alcohol impairment through innovative, relationship-centered strategies, we are fostering safer behaviors that will have a lasting impact on California’s roads and communities.”
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 nearly 150 PhD and MS students. More than 750 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. For medical students, there are numerous concurrent dual degree programs, including an MD/MBA, MD/MPH, or an MD/MS degree through one of three mission-based programs: the Health Education to Advance Leaders in Integrative Medicine (HEAL-IM), the Program in Medical Education for Leadership Education to Advance Diversity-African, Black and Caribbean (PRIME LEAD-ABC), and the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC). 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
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