Response to June 8, 2022 Hearing of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee: Addressing the Roadway Safety Crisis: Building Safer Roads for All
Media Release: For Immediate Use
Date: June 21, 2022
Subject: Response to June 8, 2022 Hearing of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee: Addressing the Roadway Safety Crisis: Building Safer Roads for All
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The National Motorists Association (NMA) supports building solutions for improving highway safety, but motorists, the largest segment of road users, were not represented at a House committee hearing to share thoughts and concerns. The following letter addressed to Chair Eleanor Holmes Norton and Ranking Member Rodney Davis of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee presents an important priority for reducing traffic fatalities according to the National Motorists Association.
June 15, 2022
Chair Eleanor Holmes Norton
Ranking Member Rodney Davis
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
2167 Rayburn House Office Building
US House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Subject: June 8, 2022 Hearing: Addressing the Roadway Safety Crisis: Building Safer Roads for All
Dear Chair Holmes Norton and Ranking Member Davis,
Any set of solutions for the improvement of highway safety, particularly in light of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) estimate of fatality increases in 2021, should include input from the largest group of road users: drivers. I appreciate the opportunity for the National Motorists Association, an organization founded in 1982 that represents a constituency of motorists across the country, to add the following commentary to the record of the subject hearing alongside that of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and other participants at the June 8th meeting.
A significant component of any effort to reduce traffic fatalities should be widespread education programs for all road users. Drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and others present on the roads must have a better awareness of their responsibilities for the safety of others and themselves. To illustrate the pressing need to fund such programs, NHTSA data from its FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) illustrates that, with tragic consistency, a significant factor in over two-thirds of pedestrian fatalities appears to be related to pedestrians not following the safety rules of the road.
Per the table on the next page, which uses FARS data from 2000 to 2016, over two-thirds of pedestrian fatalities occur outside of marked crosswalks, exacerbated by a similar percentage of visibility issues during dusk or nighttime hours. How many pedestrian (and bicyclist) lives could be saved by emphasizing street-smart safety rules such as:
- Make yourself as visible as possible, particularly during evening hours, by wearing bright clothing and reflective materials
- Cross streets at well-marked crosswalks/intersections
- Obey traffic signals and WALK signs but still look both ways and across all lanes before crossing
- Don’t step in front of a vehicle until you are certain the driver is going to stop
- Walk on the sidewalk. If there is none, walk facing traffic and be especially alert
- Don’t compromise your senses of sight and hearing. Just as distracted driving can be dangerous, distracted pedestrians can put themselves unnecessarily at risk.
While the nature of the results since 2016 has unfortunately changed very little, it should be noted that pedestrian road-related deaths have continued to increase according to NHTSA: 6,075 in 2017, 6,374 in 2018, and 6,205 in 2019.
Yes, educational programs must also be directed toward motorists who must avoid all-too-common distractions while behind the wheel, and other behaviors such as driving impaired, fatigued, or too aggressively. But solutions that are concentrated on trying to modify driver behavior, to the exclusion of other contributory factors, such as distracted walking and non-motorists thinking that certain traffic regulations only apply to drivers, will not address all the root causes of the highway fatality problem.
Motorists are an important voice in this discussion, and heightened education of all road users should be a priority in tackling this serious issue.
Sincerely,
Gary Biller
President/CEO
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About the National Motorists Association
Founded in 1982, the National Motorists Association is a North American grassroots advocacy nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of motorists’ rights and freedoms. The membership-based organization advocates for traffic laws fairly written and reasonably enforced, traffic penalties based on sensible standards, traffic safety built on proven engineering solutions, and a focus on advanced driving-skill development.