Safety Advocates Issue Wakeup Call to States

March 6, 2013 - New findings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demonstrate that the trend in declining traffic fatalities in recent years is reversing, with a 7.1% increase in crash fatalities for the first nine months of 2012.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) attribute the reversal to a lag by some states in the adoption of safety laws, reported Public Health Newswire. Fewer states showed progress in adopting safety laws last year, according to their 2013 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws.

Advocates recently released this annual scorecard measuring state-by-state progress on 15 basic traffic safety laws including seat belt, booster seat and motorcycle helmet measures, restrictions and requirements for teen drivers, all-driver texting bans and tougher impaired driving laws.

The organization hopes this represents a "wake-up call" for legislators and leaders. “The traffic safety progress we've made since 2005 is at risk of being undone,” said Jacqueline Gillan, president of Advocates. “Several states have been moving backwards and most states are not moving at all to enact lifesaving laws."

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), a major surface transportation authorization bill, was signed into law by President Obama last summer. Per Advocates, it includes several important provisions to improve the safety of vehicles, drivers and roads. In particular, new Federal incentive grant programs were established to encourage state enactment of comprehensive teen driver licensing laws, ignition interlock laws for all impaired driving offenders, distracted-driving laws and occupant protection programs.

Gillan said, "Now is the time for states to act and get the ‘triple bonus’ of preventing deaths, saving taxpayer dollars, and reaping additional federal dollars available from the MAP-21 grant program. Every state legislature is in session this year and there is no excuse for inaction by governors and elected leaders.”

States that take action will benefit threefold: first, preventable deaths and injuries will be reduced; second, medical and work loss costs associated with crashes often borne by states such as Medicaid, hospitalization, emergency responders and law enforcement will be saved; and, third, states will reap financial benefits by qualifying for federal grants. This is a win for motorists, for state budgets, and for taxpayers.

Annually, crashes cause approximately 33,000 deaths and over $230 billion in costs to society — which Gillan compares to a “crash tax” of more than $750 for every person.

Public Health Newswire reported that American Public Health Association President Adewale Troutman recommended the Roadmap report as a "playbook for closing deadly gaps" in state safety laws.

“The most effective strategy to combat this public health problem is prevention,” said Troutman. “Years of research show that driving sober, properly restraining our children in cars, protecting novice teen drivers and keeping our hands on the wheel and our eyes on the road will prevent crashes.”

The NHTSA has fatality data going back to 1975, with the 2012 fatalities representing the largest increase since. Declines in the early 1980s and 1990s lasted 11 consecutive quarters, while the most recent decline occurred over 17 consecutive quarters ending in the second quarter of 2010. 

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