News Release

Harkey appointed new director
of UNC Highway Safety Research Center

CHAPEL HILL - David L. Harkey has been named director of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.

For more than 20 years, Harkey has applied transportation engineering principles and research evaluation methods to improve highway safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists in the areas of traffic operations, roadway geometrics and design, and roadside design. His work has included the development and teaching of safety intervention programs for engineers.

Harkey, who has served as the interim director since January and previously served as deputy director, has been with the center since 1993. He was the director of the traffic engineering and safety division of Scientex Corp. prior to joining UNC.

"I'm delighted that David has agreed to take over permanent leadership of the Highway Safety Research Center," said Dr. Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at UNC. "The reputation of the center and the university will benefit from his strong leadership."

Harkey earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and transportation engineering at UNC-Charlotte. He is working on a doctorate in civil engineering at N.C. State University. He has conducted numerous studies for private and government agencies including the National Cooperative Highway Research

Program, Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

As interim director of the center, he launched an international initiative with the Institute for Road Safety Research in the Netherlands that includes a staff exchange program and the development of a joint international research consortium.

For more than 40 years, the UNC Highway Safety Research Center has been a leading research institute helping to shape the field of transportation safety. The center's mission is to improve the safety, security, access and efficiency of all surface transportation modes through a balanced, interdisciplinary program of research, evaluation and information dissemination.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/harkey_david_8_06.jpg

Highway Safety Research Center contact: Katy Jones, (919) 843-7007 or jones@hsrc.unc.edu
News Services contact: Kyle York, (919) 962-8415 or kyle_york@unc.edu