The National Student Traffic Safety Program (NSTSP) was created in 1956 by the National Commission on Safety Education (NCSE), which was a part of the National Education Association (NEA). Membership in the program was free and schools could just sign up and become a member. The program was underwritten by the NCSE and supported by private sector funds. During this period 11,000 schools became members.
In 1970, with the passage of the OSHA laws and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's motor vehicle safety laws, the NCSE was dismantled and ADTSEA, which was also a part of NEA, assumed leadership of the program. The word Traffic was dropped from the name and the organization became the National Student Safety Program. In 1974-75, the NEA was reorganized and dropped safety from their program. Therefore, ADTSEA severed its ties with NEA to become an independent association.
The NSSP was destined to die at this point due to lack of leadership and the loss of its financial supporters. Therefore, ADTSEA took over NSSP rather than see it die. NSSP was reorganized and began charging a $10 membership fee. The membership fee remains today and is used to help defray some of the administrative costs.
To assure acceptance of the program in the nation's secondary schools, ADTSEA secured the stamp of approval from the National Association of Secondary School Principals as a recommended program. Very few programs get this approval. All secondary schools in the nation are eligible to become members by completing an application form and paying a $50 membership fee.
The National Student Safety Program has conducted 33 national conferences. These conferences have been held in various locations throughout the United States such as: Bowling Green, Ohio; Pacatello, Idaho; Madison, Wisconsin; Carbondale, Illinois; Stillwater, Oklahoma; Niagara Falls, New York; Mobile, Alabama; Warrensburg, Missouri; Gulf Port, Mississippi; Corvallis, Oregon; Canby, Oregon; Huntsville, Texas; San Antonio, Texas, College Park, Maryland; Huntsville, Alabama, Tacoma, Washington and the most recent in Orlando, Florida. Funding for the conference is provided each year by the host state. During recent years, host states received limited Federal 402 funds to support the conference, however, in every case, each state or student had to provide their own travel expenses and registration for room and board for the conference. The program at all NSSP Conferences has always been on traffic safety issues, especially those dealing with alcohol and drugs, DWI, and the promotion of the use of safety belts.
Junior and senior high school students of today are bright, energetic, and are filled with new ideas. The National Student Safety Program is the vehicle they use to pull together these ideas to conduct local projects that will help reduce death and injury on our nations highways. This has been a very popular program for junior and senior high school students. Today's youth are looking for organizations they can belong to and work through to make their voices heard. The only thing the NSSP is lacking is full-time leadership and resources from the national level.
The National Student Safety Program (NSSP) is the youth organization of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA). ADTSEA is a non-profit organization that is over 40 years old and located at the Highway Safety Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.