A new book that explores an emerging approach to reducing vehicle crashes is co-edited by Montana State University’s Nicholas Ward, director of the university’s Center for Health and Safety Culture.

“Traffic Safety Culture: Definition, Foundation and Application” is the first book to deal comprehensively with the values, assumptions and beliefs that influence how drivers and others behave while on the road, according to Ward.  The cultures associated with the groups people belong to — family, friends, school, workplaces and others — are defined by those values, assumptions and beliefs, he said.