Traffic safety measures ranging from seat belt and drunk driving enforcement to design standards for cars and trucks “averted a public health disaster” by preventing about 5.8 million deaths in the U.S. from 1968 through 2015, according to a new study.
The analysis found that without federal and state policies, traffic deaths annually would “likely have been in the hundreds of thousands rather than tens of thousands” in recent years.
Amid a resurgence in U.S. traffic fatalities now taking roughly 100 lives a day, an advocacy group today issued a report card identifying states that do the most, and least, to improve highway safety.
The ratings by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety credited six states — California, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana, Delaware and Rhode Island—with having the most protective road safety laws.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today proposed a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that will help reduce fatalities and injuries in motorcoach and large bus crashes by mitigating occupant ejection.
Motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the U.S. in 2012, accounting for 25% of deaths. Truck drivers accounted for 46% of these deaths.
