About the Traffic Safety Guy

David Wallace, The Traffic Safety Guy

As the Traffic Safety Guy, I am an international leader in highway safety, concentrating on impaired, distracted and teen driving. I am an independent consultant working to make our roads safer for everyone and the Vice President of the Justice Speakers Institute as well as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Huron County.

My mission in life is to make my community, my country, and this planet a safer place to live.  I have worked on creating safer roads for most of my career. The blog on my website talks about ways for all of us to be safer drivers.

A pioneer in traffic safety, I developed the first TSRP (Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor) program in Michigan, which later became a national role model. As the first director of the National Center for DWI Courts, I oversaw a 50% increase in the number of DWI Courts nationwide, changing hardcore drunk drivers into law-abiding citizens.

Working with law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, highway safety advocates and others, I bring a complete and independent perspective to what needs to be done in making our roads safer, focusing not on just one aspect, but considering multiple factors. It is this comprehensive approach that makes a difference.

To make sure you don’t miss my newest posts, you can subscribe via RSS or e-mail by clicking the link on the home page.

My Website

If you are new to this website, my home page has all of my blogs listed chronologically.  Under the Traffic Safety Topics tab, each blog is also posted under a particular topic.  Additionally, at times I create short video clips on traffic safety topics.  These can be found under TSG Videos, also broken down by topics.  To determine if I might be the right fight for your project, you can read about my services under the Services tab.

My Highway to Safety Podcast

I also produced and hosted the Highway to Safety podcast. It is THE podcast about traffic safety—providing knowledge, raising awareness, and giving you the tools to be a better driver.  In each episode I interview traffic safety professionals and policy makers and discuss relevant traffic safety issues and what we all can do to be safer.  You can learn more about it at www.highwaytosafety.com. The podcast can be downloaded from iTunes, Blackberry, Stitcher, Miro, and Zune.

My Contact Information

Contact me via the Contact page or e-mail and follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

My Biography

As the first director of the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC), I raised awareness on the success of DWI Courts; provided training, technical assistance, and research to DWI Courts; and established new DWI Courts nationwide. I appeared in numerous broadcast, print and online publications and I am one of the nation’s preeminent experts on DWI Courts and sentencing alternatives for DWI offenders.

I have spoken nationally and internationally on impaired driving and DWI Courts.  On a regular basis I present at state Drug Court, prosecuting attorney, and other criminal justice association conferences, including the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA), and the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA). In 2006, 2007, 2008,  2010 and 2014 I traveled to Barbados and worked with officials on developing breath testing requirements for impaired drivers as well as establishing DWI Courts. In August 2008, I spoke at the International Interlock Symposium in Sweden and again in October 2009, when the Symposium met in Australia addressing public policy issues dealing with ignition interlock devices and the criminal court system. In March 2012, I addressed dignitaries in New Zealand on why DWI Courts are an important component in any fight against impaired driving.

Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor

From 2000 to 2008, I was the Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor (TSRP) for the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM).  As one of the first TSRPs in the country, I developed a program that became a role model for TSRPs nationwide. I was instrumental in helping the number of states with a TSRP grow from 4 to 39 in eight years.  As a TSRP, I instructed prosecutors and law enforcement officers in Michigan, and across the country, on prosecuting impaired driving cases and vehicular homicides.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

A former Calhoun County Assistant Prosecutor with more than 15 years of active trial experience, I successfully prosecuted individuals charged with impaired driving and vehicular homicide. I started out as an assistant prosecutor in Eaton County in 1985.  After five years, I moved to the Calhoun County Prosecutor’s Office where I stayed until October 2000, when I took on the challenge of the Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program at PAAM. I became the NCDC Director in February of 2008 and an independent consultant in April 2013

Honors and Publications

In April 2013, I was the recipient of NHTSA’s Public Safety Award. In addition I have been honored to receive the Century Council’s Kevin E. Quinlan Award for Excellence in Traffic Safety (December 2013), MADD Michigan’s William Van Regenmorter Public Servant Award (August 2008) and the National Commission against Drunk Driving Adjudication Award for 2004 (December 2004).

I am the author of the law review article The Promise of DWI Court: What Does It Mean and Why Should Prosecutors Care? published by the Chapman School of Law in 2011, and the NDAA-NTLC monograph entitled Prior Convictions in Impaired Driving Prosecutions – Targeting the Hardcore Impaired Driver published in August of 2004.

A 1980 graduate of Alma College with a major in history, I attended law school in Los Angeles, California at Southwestern University School of Law.  I am licensed to practice law in Michigan and California (currently inactive status).