The AASHTO Journal highlights a new report compiled by national transportation research nonprofit TRIP that notes traffic fatalities in the U.S. surged by 19 percent from 2019 to 2021, even as vehicle travel rates plummeted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
That report – entitled "Addressing America's Traffic Safety Crisis: Examining the Causes of Increasing U.S. Traffic Fatalities and Identifying Solutions to Improve Road User Safety" – said that spike in traffic fatalities is largely related to higher rates of “risky driving” behaviors, such as speeding and impairment due to alcohol and/or drug use.
TRIP’s report also touches on potential ways to reverse the ongoing rise in traffic crashes and fatalities.
It highlights the National Roadway Safety Strategy, or NRSS, unveiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation in January. The NRSS – which many state and local transportation agencies are also adopting – serves as “a roadmap” for addressing the nation’s roadway safety crisis based on a Safe System approach.
Increasing investment in roadway safety improvements is likely to pay off in the form of reduced fatal and serious traffic crashes, TRIP’s report argues – noting that the U.S. has a $146 billion backlog in needed roadway safety improvements, according to a 2017 report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Read the entire article here.
Source: AASHTO Journal
