Recently released estimates confirm once again the crisis on America's roads, with 9,500 lives lost in the first quarter of 2022. This marks a 7% increase from 2021 and a historic 20-year high. This past month saw a number of headline-making traffic crashes, each one devastating to the individuals and communities involved. They bring to mind, however, the other daily crashes that don’t make the front page or morning news. These crashes are no less devastating, leaving equally traumatic and lasting impacts.
As advocates working to create change on the ground, we cannot lose sight of the importance of creating urgency and improving the narrative that exists around traffic violence. Some resources to consider and help support these efforts: |
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World Day of Remembrance 2022
Want to use your voice to heighten the sense of urgency around traffic violence? The World Day of Remembrance is a day to remember those that we have lost and bring mainstream attention to the issue of traffic violence. This year, the Road to Zero Coalition is partnering with Vision Zero Network, Families for Safe Streets and It Could Be Me to provide resources and collect information about local activities. Learn more and join our efforts here. |
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News from NHTSA
Administrator Steve Cliff has resigned to take over at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and Ann Carlson will be the Acting Administrator. NHTSA has many safety measures before it from the FAST Act to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and we hope this change will not slow their progress to improve safety on our roadways and save lives. NHTSA staff has the support of the Road to Zero Coalition to continue efforts to follow the Road to Zero strategy: do more of what works, implement requirements for vehicle and other safety technology, and implement the Safe System approach. We need this strategy now more than ever. In the meantime, we will be on the lookout for a safety leader to be nominated at NHTSA.
NSC and other safety advocates called on President Biden to quickly fill the position left by Administrator Cliff at NHTSA. Addressing safety on our roadways needs decisive leadership in all agencies.
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Grantee Update
Shannon Frattaroli of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, a 2022 Road to Zero grantee, presented at the Second National Conference of American Indian and Alaska Native Injury and Violence Prevention on Thursday July 28th. Her presentation, titled “A Safe System Approach to Road Safety: Considering Indian Country,” was well attended and generated three tribes to reach out for assistance with including Safe System Approaches in their Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program applications. |
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Road to Zero Webinars
Road to Zero is taking time this fall to celebrate the progress that has been made in traffic safety initiatives in hopes of inspiring future action and learning from the successes we’re seeing at the federal, state and local levels. Join us on Sept. 28 for our latest webinar, Signs of Progress on the Road to Zero, where we will take a moment to applaud and learn from a few traffic safety champions. Want to create your own change? Watch the recordings of our recent webinars.
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Partner News and Updates
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The deadliest street in America looks too familiar for far too many communities. Learn what makes it so dangerous in this in-depth article.
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NSC is launching a new discussion series, Countersteer, with a session featuring Jessie Singer’s book, There Are No Accidents. Learn more and register here.
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Want a lot of information on transportation safety in a short amount of time? Check out the Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety’s Research to Practice Bytes recordings.
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A win for safety in New York City as speed cameras are now on all day, every day. Be inspired to consider how automated enforcement can help move the needle in your community.
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Can broader distracted driving laws make a difference in roadway safety? See what new findings from IIHS say about the effects of more sweeping cell phone laws on crash rates.
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Join UNC-HSRC for an upcoming webinar to explore micromobility fatalities. Register now for Introducing micromodes.org: The first surveillance system for micromobility fatalities.
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A new working paper from NACTO explores how bike laws often fail to improve safety and can instead lead to negative consequence. Check out this new resource, Breaking the Cycle: Reevaluating the Laws that Prevent Safe and Inclusive Biking, to learn more.
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New data from the CDC show the rates of urban and rural child fatalities in U.S. motor vehicle crashes from 2015-2019. Take a look for recommendations on extending the ages covered by child passenger restraint laws.
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AAMVA recently released an updated version of its Model Driver’s License Manual. Jurisdictions can use this newly-updated template to prepare and publish their own manuals – check it out!
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The Automated Vehicles Subcommittee of AAMVA developed and recently released the Safe Testing and Deployment of Vehicles Equipped with Automated Driving Systems Guidelines, Edition 3. This report provides voluntary recommended guidelines for motor vehicle administrations, law enforcement, manufacturers and other entities for the safe testing and deployment of ADS-equipped vehicles, and to provide information and recommendations related to ADAS vehicle technology.
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Aaaand action! The National Center for Rural Road Safety just completed Rural Road Safety Awareness Week 2022. This year’s theme was “Taking Action, Saving Lives.” Each day of the week featured a safety topic that focused on rural needs, but with a twist – each topic was visualized as a classic movie genre! Have a look at and pick your favorite genre here.
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