History
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.
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. All
secondary schools in the nation are eligible to become members simply by
requesting with ADTSEA.
The National Student Safety Program has conducted national conferences. These
conferences have been held in various locations throughout the United States. 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 30 years.