U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Wednesday that the federal government would implement a new comprehensive strategy to address increased roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
The National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) will provide steps the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will take to address roadway safety systematically and to prevent avoidable deaths and injuries. According to the department, almost 95 percent of the Nation’s transportation deaths occur on its streets, roads, and highways. Additionally, the department said, after many years of declining numbers of roadway fatalities, roadway deaths rose during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We cannot tolerate the continuing crisis of roadway deaths in America. These deaths are preventable, and that’s why we’re launching the National Roadway Safety Strategy today – a bold, comprehensive plan, with significant new funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Buttigieg said. “We will work with every level of government and industry to deliver results because every driver, passenger, and pedestrian should be certain that they’re going to arrive at their destination safely, every time.”
Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the NRSS is the first step toward the USDOT’s long-term goal of zero roadway fatalities, the department said.
As part of the NRSS, the department will adopt the “Safe System Approach,” which acknowledges human errors and human vulnerability and designs a redundant system that protects by preventing crashes and ensuring if they do occur, they do not result in death or serious injury.
The five-pronged model will focus on safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and post-crash care. The department said it will work with states and local road owners to build and maintain safer roadways; leverage technology to improve motor vehicle safety; and invest in road safety, including a new $6 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All program and an additional $4 billion in funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program;