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                Improving Relationships with Tribes Makes Roads Safer in South Dakota
**Publication Year:** 
            2015
    
        The South Dakota practice is discussed after the following introduction about Tribal Government Involvement in the Strategic Highway Safety Plan process.

**Other states in this SHSP/Tribal Government Noteworthy Practices series: MT, ND, WA**

Involving Tribal Governments in the Strategic Highway Safety Plan Update Process - Approaches and Benefits

As States move toward achieving zero deaths on their roadways, the impact of motor vehicle crashes in tribal communities and on tribal roads cannot be overlooked. American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations experience higher rates of fatalities associated with transportation than does the population as a whole. Crashes are also the leading cause of unintentional death for AI/AN ages 1-44.

Legislation requires that the SHSP is developed in consultation with major Federal, State, tribal, and local safety stakeholders (23 U.S.C.148 (a)(12)(A)). SHSPs must also consider safety needs of, and high-fatality segments of, all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads and roads on tribal land (23 U.S.C.148 (a)(12) (D)).

States and tribal governments are working together in an effort to reduce roadway injuries and fatalities in tribal communities. This includes collaborating during the State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) process, an effort that brings together a diverse group of stakeholders to identify critical roadway safety challenges and establish potential solutions. Tribes are also developing Strategic Transportation Safety Plans of their own, which may allow access to additional resources such as the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund.

These noteworthy practices highlight the activities of four States and tribal communities to collaborate during and after the SHSP process. They contain several recurring themes:

Establishing a government-to-government relationship between State offices and tribal governments is very effective because it establishes respectful lines of communication and agreed-upon approaches that facilitates discussion on roadway safety issues.
	Tribal involvement in the SHSP process insures tribal concerns and strategies are addressed in the SHSP.
	Tribal safety summits are an effective platform for information-sharing among tribes on roadway safety issues and often strengthen inter-tribal relationships.
	An established network for communicating between tribes and State agencies leads to better project coordination and delivery, lower project costs, stronger relationships, and better information sharing.South Dakota

Background

For half a century, representatives from South Dakota's nine tribes have informed the State's Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) through a yearly tribal STIP meeting. During the meeting, State and tribal partners discuss safety concerns and State projects happening in tribal territory, and coordinate road projects that overlap boundaries. The South Dakota transportation secretary attends and moderates this annual meeting.

Building off the longstanding STIP consultations, South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) staff also meet with tribes individually for an annual consultation and coordination meeting where SDDOT and tribes discuss transportation issues on tribal lands. These individual meetings foster personal relationships, and meetings are also held as-needed—for instance, for consultation on federal signage standards and requirements. Department staff travel to each of the nine tribal headquarters to meet with transportation, Tribal Employment Rights Office, and Cultural Preservation staff about a variety of transportation issues. Safety is always a topic of discussion. These meetings let participants discuss the coordination of individual projects and cooperative ventures in detail. Staff from the South Dakota Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also participate in the annual meetings with each Tribe.

Tribes typically host the summits and meetings, which include FHWA division staff, representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the State Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety, tribal historic preservation officers, tribal chairs and presidents, and sometimes council members.

This year SDDOT will hold its 6th Tribal Transportation Safety Summit. The event will be hosted by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The summit is not just an opportunity for State and tribal representatives to build relationships, it is a time to bring together representatives from the 4 Es of highway safety: engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency medical services (EMS).

The ongoing collaboration between tribes and SDDOT staff on the STIP, road safety projects, and individual tribal meetings is now informing the goals and strategies of the State's Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), and of tribal safety plans.

Tribal Involvement in the Strategic Highway Safety Plan

Before South Dakota completed its most recent SHSP update in 2014, SDDOT presented its draft SHSP at the Tribal Safety Summit to get input on how to integrate tribal road safety needs into the SHSP. Tribes were eager to provide feedback, and asked if SDDOT would be at the table—to provide technical assistance, data, and answer questions—as tribes created their own road safety plans.

South Dakota's SHSP Steering Committee also has a tribal representative. The SHSP update process included numerous tribal safety partners, including representatives from the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations and South Dakota Urban Indian Health, and transportation planners from the following organizations:

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Creek Agency
	Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
	Flandreau Sioux Tribe
	Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
	Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate
	Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
	Rosebud Sioux Tribe
	Yankton Sioux TribeThere are several strategies in the SHSP that support tribal transportation safety efforts. In the Unbelted Vehicle Occupant emphasis area, one strategy includes supporting tribal efforts to use a rollover simulator, which shows what happens to belted and unbelted occupants when a vehicle rolls over. In the Drug and Alcohol Related Crashes emphasis area, strategies include:

Reviewing options to create a tribal law enforcement or traffic liaison position with South Dakota Department of Public Safety to address tribal drinking and driving issues.
	Working with Lakota Circles of Hope and similar tribal programs in teaching middle and high school students about safe driving and resisting destructive decisions.SDOT's SHSP effort also includes supporting the Annual Tribal Safety Summit, including developing agendas, securing venues, and distributing and collecting registration materials.

Finally, SDDOT funds enforcement activities on reservations, works with tribes to prepare tribal safety plans, conducts Regional Roadway Safety Inspections and Roadway Safety Audits, and administers and funds county signing projects.

Tribal Transportation Plan Development

All but two of the nine tribes in South Dakota have developed their own safety transportation plans. SDDOT staff attended developmental meetings for those plans, provided guidance, and discussed road safety issues unique to tribes. For instance, pedestrian crashes happen more often on tribal lands compared to State roads, where run-off-the-road crashes are more common. Tribal safety plans in South Dakota tend to emphasize infrastructure and behavior countermeasures, such as safe pedestrian routes and improved lighting, which make roads safer for pedestrians.

Key Challenges

While the safety summit has grown from 30 to 40 participants each year to 80 to 100 participants, it has been difficult for SDDOT to tap into EMS and law enforcement networks on tribal lands. EMS and enforcement departments tend to be understaffed and overworked and their leadership cannot afford to take even one day off. SDDOT is determined to continue to work to find ways to get full 4E representation at its safety summits.

A lack of consistent crash data can be a barrier to assisting tribes trying to address road safety needs, as is a lack of electronic data. The State, county, and city levels all use the same system to report crashes and have full access to that system, but tribes gather their own crash data that is not integrated into the system. Some tribes have expressed concern that the State will use personally identifiable information in crash reports. SDDOT continues to work to counter this perception, emphasizing that it is only interested in using crash data to help tribes obtain funding for road safety projects.

Despite the challenges related to crash data consistency, additional crash data has become available by cultivating tribal crash reporting partnerships. These expanded data partnerships resulted in additional crash reports and has provided for a more complete data set. From 2008 to 2012, there has been a relatively flat trend for the number of fatalities and fatal crash rate. Through partnerships with tribal partners, SDDOT has reestablished a trend using a more complete data set.

Benefits Realized

Established communication leads to better project coordination and delivery, lower project costs, strong relationships, and better information sharing.
	Tribal involvement has ensured tribal concerns and strategies are addressed in the SHSP.
	Close coordination with tribes has led to the support of the annual traffic safety summit.
	The safety summit is a vehicle not just for SDDOT staff and tribal representatives to interact, but for tribes to talk to one another about low-cost safety and other improvements.
	Any tribe can sign up for a signage consultation with SDDOT staff, to ensure that signs and sign locations conform to federal standards. SDDOT staff also make it a point to be available to help resolve any other road safety or general transportation issues.See these other SHSP/Tribal Involvement Noteworthy Practices:

Montana
	North Dakota
	Washington

Contact

June D. Hansen
Civil Rights Compliance Officer
South Dakota Department of Transportation
(605) 773-3540June.Hansen@state.sd.us U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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