Jonathon M. Vivoda

Jonathon M. Vivoda is a Research Associate at UMTRI, where he has worked since 1998. He is currently enrolled in a master's degree program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Health Behavior and Health Education department. During the school year, Mr. Vivoda works at UMTRI as a Graduate Student Research Assistant. He holds a bachelor degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. Mr. Vivoda’s research interests include motor vehicle occupant restraint system use, age related driving problems, driver distraction, the effects of ITS technology on driver behavior, and understanding motor vehicle crash trends.

Mr. Vivoda is an expert in organizing and managing field data collection for occupant protection use surveys and has developed methods of using personal digital assistants (PDAs) for the collection of many types of field data. He has investigated occupant protection use by various demographic and environmental characteristics, including race, sex, age, vehicle type, and vehicle purpose (commercial versus non-commercial), and has conducted studies of the interactions of cell phone use and safety belt use. Mr. Vivoda has also developed procedures for observing safety belt use by motorists traveling at night, utilizing specialized night vision equipment. He has performed critical reviews of traffic safety literature; managed the collection and organization of various types of complex electronic and hardcopy data from sources such as law enforcement agencies, courts, and prosecutors. Currently, Mr. Vivoda serves as the Program Coordinator of the Michigan Center for Advancing Safe Transportation throughout the Lifespan (M-CASTL), a University Transportation Center dedicated to increasing the safety and mobility of both young people and older adults.