NHTSA leader puts science on the road.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

WASHINGTON _ Jeffrey Runge entered a different world when he accepted the job of administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last summer.

Six months later, the emergency medical physician has begun to grapple with many of the complex safety issues that face the federal regulatory agency.

The administration is responsible for reducing deaths and injuries, investigating safety defects in motor vehicles, enforcing fuel economy standards and researching driver behavior and traffic safety, among many things.

Runge says he is striving to use "good science" to lead the agency, "looking at the epidemiology of fatalities and injuries and figuring out where we need to spend our energy and the very limited resources we have."

Runge sat down with the Detroit Free Press in Washington to talk about his vision for the agency.

Q. How have things been for you over the last six months?

A. They've been great. I've been really pleased with the fact that everybody in our agency already understands the vision, already understands where we need to go. They all know where ...