Tara Casanova Powell, Casanova Powell Consulting (CPC) Principal, has over 20 years of research experience in the field of road safety. Tara’s main fields of experience are impaired driving, distracted driving, younger drivers, pedestrian and bike safety, wildlife roadside safety, highway safety program evaluations, traffic enforcement issues and risky driving behaviors. With extensive research ex
perience in the field as a traffic safety professional, Tara decided to form her own consulting business as an independent consultant. Tara is the former Director of Research of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation USA. The bulk of Tara’s early career was at Preusser Research Group (PRG) where she was employed for 17 years. Tara was also a Research Associate for Preusser Research Group (PRG) from 1998 to 2015 and served as a Senior Research Associate (2010-2015) where she led several national and state projects involving alcohol and drug impaired driving, occupant protection, teen driving involving graduated licensing, pedestrian and bike safety, older drivers and distracted driving and speed. Tara is the current Executive Director for the Association of Traffic Safety Information Professionals (ATSIP). Tara is also the current Program Coordinator for the Annual Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, and the project lead for a NHTSA cooperative agreement with the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety to expand employer-based traffic safety programs in the U.S. through assistance from State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO). Tara’s past work includes a National Evaluation of 28 State’s Ignition interlock programs, a Washington State ignition interlock offender behavior project, Minnesota and Colorado interlock program evaluations, an FDA project to create an educational resource for the effective communication between health care professionals and patients about impairing risks of pain medication in relation to driving. Tara has recently completed a report illustrating Pretrial Services Early Intervention Programs for DWI Offenders: “A GUIDE TO DUI PRETRIAL SERVICES Key Components & Best Practice Recommendations” prepared for the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. Tara also recently authored “Rideshare Volume and DUI Incidents in Target California Communities”, developed for National Association of District Attorneys (NDAA). Tara has worked very closely with the US DOT and upper level management of federal and state government agencies including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. FDA, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the Governor’s Highway Safety Administration (GHSA). Tara has worked extensively with state highway safety offices and governor representatives in addition to state and municipal law enforcement and has a thorough understanding of government agency procedure, program development, implementation and evaluation. Tara has published several peer-reviewed journal articles and is regularly asked to present her research at local and national professional conferences. Tara is a consultant for the Governor Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Consulting Services Initiative, a founding member of the Connecticut Statewide Impaired Driving Task Force, a faculty staff member for the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC), and a member of the Drugged Driving Committee at the Institute for Behavioral Health. Tara has also recently been appointed to the Leadership Committee of the Transportation Research Board Standing Committee on Impairment in Transportation, and the Treatment Measures Working Group of the International Council of Alcohol, Drugs and Transportation Safety where she currently serves as a member. Tara was also an expert panelist for the Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Program 2018 Distracted Driving Initiative.
