Government, private sector team up to curb traffic fatalities
The NHTSA reported an increase of more than 10% in auto accident deaths between 2020 and 2021.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently issued a Call to Action to make the country’s roads less dangerous.
The policy arose in response to the marked increase in traffic-accident deaths in the months since people returned to driving after pandemic shutdowns.
“When it comes to roadway deaths, we have a crisis that’s urgent, unacceptable — and preventable,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement about the National Roadway Safety Strategy, which calls on government at all levels along with law enforcement, industry and nonprofits to step up road-safety initiatives. “We cannot and must not accept that these fatalities are somehow an inevitable part of life in America.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported in May 2022 that an estimated 42,915 people died in auto accidents the previous year, which reflected more than a 10% increase from 2020. “We face a crisis on America’s roadways that we must address together,” Buttigieg said when the statistics were released. He pointed to President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as one of the “critical steps to help reverse this devastating trend.”
In addition to the ways in which a car crash tragedy ripples through families and communities, each traffic accident death costs $1,750,000 in wage and productivity losses, medical expenses, administrative expenses, vehicle damage and employers’ uninsured costs, the National Safety Council reports.
The NHTSA says the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarks cash to improve road safety and includes the new Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which funds local efforts to reduce roadway crashes and fatalities. The policy also advances Complete Streets standards; requires updates to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which defines speeds, lane markings, traffic lights and more on most roads in the country; and sharply increases funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which helps states adopt data-driven approaches to making roads safer.
“We will redouble our safety efforts,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Dr. Steven Cliff said in a public statement about these initiatives. “All of our lives depend on it.”
Now, major corporations also have announced efforts to help support the government’s road-safety push. Among them:
- Uber is donating $50,000 to boost its “Decide to Ride” program in several states. The initiative launched in partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Anheuser-Busch provides discounts to people who may be too tipsy to get behind the wheel and also includes a public service advertising campaign. Uber also plans to increase its bike lane alerts and seat belt alerts.
- Lyft has partnered with the Governors Highways Safety Association to award grants to programs aimed at reducing risky driving behaviors;
- 3M is bulking up its collaboration with state transportation agencies to find tech solutions to making road signs and lane markings more visible. The manufacturer of Post-It Notes and other products has already committed $250,000 to improve school crossing zones in several states.
- Honda has committed millions to help improve teen driver safety;
- UPS plans to install automatic emergency braking on its newer big delivery vehicles; and
- The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group, plans to increase its push for industry adoption of safety technologies such as auto high beams.
Buttigieg told The Associated Press that this campaign will be a sustained, multiyear effort.
“There isn’t one piece that will get this all down,” he said. “But if we add all this together, [the impact] can be enormous.”
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