U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Discretionary Safety Grants and Cooperative Agreements
Key facts
Open now
- Innovative Traffic Safety Enforcement (ITSE) Grant Program · Due Sep 1, 2027 · 329 days left
Opening soon
Announced, but you can't apply yet. Get ready now.
- State Electronic Crash Data Collection · The funder's estimated date (Mar 20, 2024) has passed. Check the official notice Estimate, not confirmed by the funder
What it pays for
Provide technical and financial assistance to State and local government agencies, for-profit and non-profit organizations, educational institutions, hospitals, and other persons (as defined in Title 1 USC Chapter (1)) in support of highway safety research and development, special studies, educational and public awareness projects related to or involving: 1). Activities, including demonstration projects to study vehicle, highway, driver, passenger, motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian characteristics; 2). Emergency medical services communications and transportation of the injured; 3). Human behavioral factors such as driver education, impaired driving, and distracted driving; 4). Evaluation of the effectiveness of countermeasures to increase highway and traffic safety, including occupant protection and alcohol- and drug-impaired driving technologies and initiatives; 5). Development of technologies to detect drug impaired drivers; 6). Research, evaluation, and identification of best practices related to driver education programs (including driver education curricula, instructor training and certification, program administration, and delivery mechanisms) and recommendations for harmonizing driver education and multistage graduated licensing systems; 7). Effect of State laws on any aspects, activities, or programs described above.
Who can apply
Eligibility requirements will be specified on a project-by-project basis. Generally speaking, and historically, projects have been made available to the following types of organizations: Intrastate, Local, Sponsored Organization, Public nonprofit institution/organization, Other public institution/organization, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Government, U.S. territory or possession, Specialized Group, Small Business, Profit Organization, Private nonprofit institution/organization, Quasi-public nonprofit institution/organization, Other private institution/organization, Native American Organization,
How applications are judged
Grantee criteria for selecting proposals will be developed on an on individual grant or cooperative agreement basis by the NHTSA Program and Acquisition Team.
Match
None required (federal program listing).
Who in Tennessee has won this program
4 awards to Tennessee groups since 2022. Largest shown:
| Past winner | Where | Amount | Fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety & Homeland Security | Nashville, Davidson County | $4.3M | 2025 |
| Safety & Homeland Security | Nashville, Davidson County | $1.1M | 2022 |
| State of Tennessee | Nashville | $235K spent that year | 2025 |
| Shelby County, TN | Memphis | $37K spent that year | 2023 |
Source: USAspending.gov, Federal Audit Clearinghouse.
Tennessee groups that got this money through a state agency or another organization
This federal money also reaches local groups as pass-through grants. In Tennessee, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security and Tennessee Department of Transportation pass it on: watch those agencies for applications, not the federal agency. 3 pass-through grants on file. Largest shown:
| Past winner | Where | Through | Amount | Fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of Tennessee | Nashville | National Safety Council | $98K spent that year | 2025 |
| City of Cleveland | Cleveland, Bradley County | Tennessee Department of Transportation | $62K spent that year | 2025 |
| City of Murfreesboro, Tennessee | Murfreesboro, Rutherford County | Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security | $9,979 spent that year | 2023 |
Source: USAspending.gov pass-through reports (the first recipient reports each one of $30,000 or more).