Safer People, Safer Roads

February 2022

The launch of the US federal government’s comprehensive National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) marks a switch by US transport authorities towards embracing Vision Zero.

The USDoT says it will use a five-pronged model to address safety: "Safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and post-crash care".

It adds that the NRSS "recognises that reducing traffic fatalities will take sustained and concerted action from everyone across all sectors and all levels of government".

The blueprint presented by transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg to address the "national crisis in roadway fatalities and serious injuries", is "the first step in working toward an ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities".

“We cannot tolerate the continuing crisis of roadway deaths in America," he said. "These deaths are preventable."

The strategy includes a new $6 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All programme, hundreds of millions for behavioral research and interventions, and $4 billion in additional funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program.

The strategy was developed in coordination with USDoT's Executive Safety Council and the so-called 'Safe System Approach' "acknowledges both human mistakes and human vulnerability, and designs a redundant system to protect everyone by preventing crashes and ensuring that if they do occur they do not result in serious injury or death".

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