US road safety suggestions

The US needs to up its game on road safety, which a new report can help with, providing key steps state governors can take to help reduce road crash risks. The report has been published by the National Governors Association (NGA) and is titled, “State Strategies to Reduce Highway and Traffic Fatalities and Injuries: A Road Map for States.” The publication emphasises the key role of governors in improving road safety. It suggests ways to improve coordination and strengthen existing efforts across state
February 12, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

The US needs to up its game on road safety, which a new report can help with, providing key steps state governors can take to help reduce road crash risks.

The report has been published by the National Governors Association (NGA) and is titled, “State Strategies to Reduce Highway and Traffic Fatalities and Injuries: A Road Map for States.” The publication emphasises the key role of governors in improving road safety. It suggests ways to improve coordination and strengthen existing efforts across state agencies.

“This project elevates the profile of traffic safety and provides concrete recommendations that have tremendous potential to improve safety outcomes,” said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) that assisted in the development of the report. “Governors are uniquely positioned to provide leadership on highway safety and foster statewide collaboration among other various agencies, including state highway safety offices. GHSA is glad to support this new report and looks forward to continuing to work with NGA and the safety community to achieve zero traffic fatalities on our roadways.”

Improvements in road safety are sorely needed in the US, which compares poorly with other developed nations in this respect. More worryingly still, there has been a reversal of the steady gains in road safety seen over decades. In 2016, 37,461 people were killed on America’s roads, a 5.6% increase over the previous year. And 39 US states reported an increase in traffic fatalities in 2016.

According to the GHSA, the report will help states to identify and deploy proven countermeasures to reduce crashes and injuries. The report provides key steps that governors can take to improve coordination and strengthen existing efforts across state agencies and identifies recent state efforts to adopt strategies to reduce traffic fatalities. The road map is designed as a policy development tool, allowing a state to use all or portions of the road map as it applies to their unique situation.

Maintenance

Related Content

  • Joining forces on safety'
    April 12, 2012
    The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) welcomed the launch of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, saying it will enable the European Union to join forces in tackling road safety at a global level. The UN move aims to reduce by 50% the projected increase in road deaths by 2020, and was developed with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which predicts that road traffic injuries will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030 in the world. It demanded action to correct t
    Read More
  • Safety improvements in developed nations
    August 20, 2013
    At a time when road safety is posing a significant threat to both human health and economic development around the world, it is worth noting that in many developed nations the situation is improving. The United Nations has identified road safety as a major problem and established its Decade of Action for Road Safety for the 2010-2020 period, in a bid to cut the growing death toll. But while developing nations are seeing a vast growth in vehicle numbers and road fatalities, the improving road safety situ
    Read More
  • Reducing road deaths and injuries
    October 3, 2016
    The International Transport Forum is releasing a new report intended to help cut crashes worldwide. The report has been compiled by international experts and analyses the experience of Safe System countries and offers guidance for countries seeking to reduce road deaths. The report highlights need for a new approach to cutting the casualty toll and is called Zero Road Deaths and Serious Injuries: Leading a Paradigm Shift in Road Safety. It has a number of core recommendations. The conventional approach
    Read More
  • SaferAfrica Project discusses Data Collection in Africa
    July 5, 2018
    Members of the consortium of the EU-funded SaferAfrica project met in Athens on 24-27 April 2018 to discuss advancements and to present first results to the management board. IRF (Geneva) is a member of the consortium and shared its experience on data collection during the dedicated workshop held jointly with the management board. Representatives from the African Development Bank, UNECA, SSATP/World Bank, FIA, WHO, IRTAD, RU and PIARC were also present to address the issue of data in Africa and the specific
    Read More

Highlighted Content