Reed attended Garfield Elementary School in Alhambra, California, and in 1975 he graduated from Alhambra High School.  While at Alhambra High School, Reed's communication skills were recognized when he was named the winner of an essay contest on "What's Right With America".  He received a $50.00 U.S. Savings Bond and he was the guest of honor at a dinner held by a local political club. While attending high school, Reed was working full-time at a nearby McDonald's restaurant and, on the day he turned 16, he purchased his first car. He anxiously obtained his driver's license and enjoyed driving, but little did he know that driving would later play such an important role in his life.

After graduating from Alhambra High School, Reed went on to attend Pasadena City College and later attended The Columbia School of Broadcasting in Hollywood.  During this time, Reed made his career in foodservice management and, at one point, was a Foodservice Supervisor at Los Angeles International Airport.  In 1987, Reed was able to combine his management background with his love of entertainment when he accepted a supervisory position with California's first comedy-based traffic violator school which was called Lettuce Amuse U  Comedy Traffic School. Shortly after joining Lettuce Amuse U, Reed Berry began co-hosting his first talk radio program, "The Friday Special", on KIEV 870 AM in Los Angeles. The show was very entertaining and, upon hearing the show, the President of Lettuce Amuse U asked Reed to start teaching comedy traffic school classes. Although he had never done stand-up comedy before, Reed accepted the challenge.  In 1992, Reed left Lettuce Amuse U to accept a position as an Instructor and Field Supervisor for Improv Comedy Traffic School, which is associated with the world famous comedy club The Improv.  In 2001, Reed left Improv Traffic School to join the teaching staff of the National Traffic Safety Institute.

As a bonafide traffic safety expert, Reed Berry is frequently asked to be a guest on radio and television programs.  In an attempt to create an easy-to-remember media identity, Reed Berry became "The Traffic Guy". Reed has been a guest on such television shows as "Crook & Chase", "Great Day America" on PAX-TV and "The KTLA Morning News"  and has been featured on Fox News Channel, "Eye to Eye with Connie Chung", "CBS This Morning" and on the British news and entertainment program "Exclusive" in the United Kingdom.  He has also been featured in such publications as The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Business Week  and The Times (London, England), just to name  a few.  From 1998 to 1999, Reed Berry was the co-creator and co-host of "Traffic Jam"  on KRLA 1110 AM in Los Angeles, the first talk radio show in America for  and about drivers!  Each show featured a "Celebrity Driver of the Week"  and the celebrity guest on the very first show was none other than the ultimate car enthusiast, Jay Leno!  Reed has always been a fan of Leno and was on hand to interview Jay as he unveiled his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April, 2000.

In addition to teaching traffic school classes throughout southern California, Reed Berry conducts safe driving seminars for corporations as well as drug awareness programs for public schools and organizations such as California Conservation Corps.   For his work in the field of drug awareness education, Reed Berry received the Citizen Activist Commendation Award from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving in Washington, D.C. and an Award of  Honor from RADD (Recording Artists, Actors and Athletes Against Drunk Driving).  In October, 1999, "The Traffic Guy" was the keynote speaker for the Governor's Highway Safety Conference in Pennsylvania and in June, 2001, he was the featured speaker for the closing session of the International Child Passenger Safety Technical Conference in Indiana.  Then it was off to Oregon where he served as keynote speaker for the Oregon Transportation Safety Conference and later, he was the featured speaker for the Oregon Judicial Conference.

In 2007, Reed was selected to be the Driving Safety Expert for the popular international "how to" website VideoJug.com, joining such world-class experts as actor/environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. and child safety expert Mark Klaas. Reed also serves as a Contributing Editor to LACar.com and is a member of Motor Press Guild.

Reed Berry has appeared as a contestant on four television game shows, most recently "Weakest Link".