U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced legislation to increase funding for rural road safety Thursday.
The High Risk Rural Roads Safety Act of 2021 would increase funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and create a $750 million set aside solely for safety projects on high-risk rural roads. The legislation would direct $150 million of the funding to tribal lands.
The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) endorsed the bill because it would ensure safety becomes a priority for locally owned rural roads and addresses the significant safety challenges in rural America.
“ATSSA applauds Sens. Kelly and Burr on their leadership on rural and tribal road safety issues in the Senate,” ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner said. “If we are going to achieve our long-term goal of zero fatalities, we must address safety challenges on all roads, including rural and tribal roads. ATSSA’s members are eager to work with the senators on reducing fatalities and serious injuries in rural America.”
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), rural roads have a fatality rate twice that of non-rural roads. This funding would go directly to local government to fund critical safety infrastructure projects on rural, locally owned roads.
In addition to ATSSA, the American Highway Users Alliance, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), National Association of Counties (NACo), National Association of County Engineers (NACE), and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) endorsed the legislation.