SUVOA President Barry McCahill
Barry McCahill is president of SUV Owners of America, Inc. He has practiced public relations for more than 35 years, and as a consultant represents a national client base with emphasis on transportation issues, and the Washington, D.C. political, regulatory and media arena. McCahill was at the center of federal transportation policy under eight Secretaries of Transportation and was the senior public affairs official for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the high-profile federal agency that regulates the motor vehicle industry and promotes highway safety. He retired from NHTSA in 1996.
He was on the strategy team that developed the national campaign that increased safety belt usage in the United States from practically zero to the high levels of usage today. He also helped develop the seat belt spokesdummies, “Vince and Larry?” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk” campaigns, widely acclaimed to be among the most creative and effective public service advertising in history.
McCahill has appeared on many network and local television shows, including Today, CBS This Morning, CNN, NBC Evening News, and ABC World News, and quoted frequently in major newspapers, such as USA Today, The New York Times and The Washington Post. In addition to training groups on how to be more effective with the news media, he was a guest lecturer at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and at Boise State University.
A long-time advocate for the mentally retarded, he is an advisory committee member and former board member of the Voice of the Retarded (VOR), a leading national organization representing persons with mental retardation.
A graduate of the George Mason College of the University of Virginia, McCahill was a commissioned Army officer during the Vietnam conflict.