Trailnet Champion: Nick Chabarria
Each month we feature a member or members of our community that work to push Trailnet’s vision of Streets for All. For August, we’ve featuring Nick Chabarria, Public Affairs Senior Specialist for AAA Missouri!
Two years ago, Missouri took a historic step toward safer roads: the passage of the Siddens Bening Hands Free Law, which prohibits drivers from using cell phones or other electronic devices while driving. The law is a landmark win for safety advocates across the state, and it wouldn’t have happened without the tireless work of people like Nick Chabarria, Public Affairs Senior Specialist for AAA Missouri.
Trailnet has long championed safer streets for people who walk, bike, and use transit, and distracted driving makes our streets more dangerous for everyone. Nick and AAA Missouri were key partners in the Hands Free Missouri Coalition, helping build the coalition, mobilize the public, and carry the message through the halls of the State Capitol.
Nick didn’t begin his career in policy, but in journalism. After graduating from the University of Missouri–Columbia with a degree in journalism (and minors in Spanish and linguistics), he worked at TV news stations in Columbia, Cape Girardeau, and New Orleans in both on-camera and behind-the-scenes roles. That experience, he says, helped shape how he approaches public affairs today.
Now, as a spokesperson for AAA Missouri, Nick covers a seven-state territory and oversees community programs and legislative activity, with traffic safety at the core of his work. When AAA began seriously pursuing hands-free legislation in 2021, those communication skills quickly came into play. “I primarily leveraged my public relations connections with local media around the state to talk about the dangers of distracted driving and why enhancing Missouri’s distracted driving law was so critical to improving safety for all road users,” Nick recalls.
AAA joined the Hands-Free Missouri Coalition at a time when distracted driving deaths were rising and Missouri lagged behind other states in safety protections. Nick stepped into a leadership role, serving as interim chair of the coalition and becoming one of the most visible public voices for the cause.
He helped link together efforts already underway — from MoDOT’s Buckle Up Phone Down campaign to grassroots advocates across the state — and gave them a singular focus: making Missouri a hands-free state. He also engaged youth through the Buckle Up Phone Down High School Showdown, a pledge contest that turned safe driving into a statewide conversation.
Nick is quick to credit the broad coalition that made this victory possible: “Getting the Siddens Bening Hands Free Law across the finish line in 2023 was a full team effort. It was truly inspiring to see all the individual and collaborative efforts going on statewide to raise awareness of the issue and encourage the public to support the bill by reaching out to their local legislators. Trailnet’s contributions during that time cannot be understated, particularly as it relates to their advocacy for pedestrians, cyclists, and multimodal road users. Whether it was through their Drive the Change educational campaign or supporting our legislative outreach days at the Missouri State Capitol, it was great to have a partner in Trailnet who we knew we could count on.”
For Nick, some of the most powerful moments came not in legislative hearings, but during Distracted Driving Awareness Day at the Missouri State Capitol. Each year, the event brings together lawmakers, law enforcement, transportation leaders, and — most importantly — families who have lost loved ones to distracted driving.
“Most impactful for me each year is hearing from our incredible distracted driving victim advocates, Adrienne Siddens, Stephany Bening, and Warren Douglas,” he says. “Each of these people have lost someone who meant the world to them in traffic crashes and to see their bravery as they share their stories, it’s hard not to get emotional. I can’t possibly imagine what they have gone through, but I can tell you that because of their courage our roads are safer today. Getting to work with our victim advocates in the hopes of preventing tragedy from occurring to other families is why I will always feel so honored and fortunate to work in this space.”
Since the law passed, telematics data already shows that Missouri drivers are using their phones about 5% less while behind the wheel — an early sign that lives are being saved.
Nick reflects on the coalition with gratitude. “It really seems like this group was brought together for a reason,” he says. “Everyone had their role to play and contributed to Hands-Free Missouri in different ways and I am just proud to be able to say I was a small part of that.”
The Siddens Bening Hands Free Law is already making an impact, but its true legacy lies ahead — in the crashes prevented, lives saved, and families spared from tragedy. Thanks to leaders like Nick Chabarria, and partners like AAA Missouri and others across the state, Missouri is on a path toward safer roads for everyone.