The Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine is proud to spotlight Dr. Federico Vaca’s new youth-centered program, Youth Thriving in Life Transitions with Transportation (THRIVE). THRIVE focuses on how transportation impacts the immediate and later health, education, and employment of high school youth, particularly as it relates to safety and independence in driving licensure. THRIVE works to expose youth to a breadth of transportation benefits as well as the tightly coupled responsibilities and need for understanding safety that comes along with young driver licensure. This is of key note given that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for youth ages 15 – 24—all too often a result of alcohol and drug impaired driving, distracted driving, riding with an impaired driver, and even drowsy driving. THRIVE takes a proactive approach to building safer, more equitable communities by exposing young drivers “to-be” and novice young drivers to the impact transportation can have on health, education, employment and access to opportunity.
“Safer young drivers, safer communities altogether. Distraction, impairment, and speed, the big three, are all preventable.”
Dr.Vaca’s work with THRIVE is informed by a career in emergency medicine where he first recognized the great need for youth-focused crash-injury prevention program work and research.
“It was the clinical experiences that really shaped the work I wanted to do—getting beyond the emergency room doors to prevent injuries in the first place.”
As a researcher with the Institute of Transportation Studies and the School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Vaca’s work highlights how transportation can improve and preserve a community’s health if planning is human-centric.
“Without humans and their well-being, you won’t have any transit of any sorts… It’s the people driving this whole process. It’s about understanding how transportation affects real lives—from accessing a job to managing asthma.”
THRIVE aims to provide valuable exposure and education in transportation to youth—some of the most vulnerable road users—guiding them to be intentionally mindful of how transportation, individual, and community health are closely woven together.
You can read more about Dr. Vaca’s research as the Professor and Executive Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine at UC Irvine here. Additionally, you can listen to how Dr. Vaca’s research explains why teens are driving as much here.