Safety On the Road

Every family, individual and business in the country relies on our nation’s roadways. There should be an expectation of safety when traveling to work, school or for leisure. But far too often, our roads are where lives are lost.

More than 40,000 people died in 2016 in vehicle crashes, and the numbers have been climbing. From 2014 to 2016, fatalities increased 14% – the largest two-year increase in 50 years. Each of these deaths is preventable, and the National Safety Council is working on a variety of fronts to reduce crashes, prevent injuries and save lives.

In 2017, we made roads safer

LEADERSHIP

CELEBRATED FIRST YEAR of the Road to Zero Coalition, bringing on board more than 600 member organizations

NSC PRESIDENT AND CEO DEBORAH HERSMAN APPOINTED TO Department of Transportation Committee on Automation

CO-HOSTED a roundtable discussion on heavy-duty truck ADAS adoption with the National Transportation Safety Board

EDUCATED DRIVERS on new vehicle safety technologies through a first-of-its-kind virtual reality app on the Google Cardboard platform

SUPPORTED CARGILL in becoming the largest privately held corporation to adopt a cell-phone use policy for all employees

TEAMED UP WITH Waymo, MADD, Foundation for Blind Children, and Foundation for Senior Living on Let’s Talk Self-Driving public education campaign

CONVENED ROAD SAFETY ROUNDTABLE with Liberty Mutual, Zurich, Aon and other insurance industry participants

REACHED 75 MILLION DRIVERS trained through driver improvement courses

LAUNCHED A DRIVER TRAINING PROGRAM with Cook County, which includes Chicago

DEVELOPED A FREE SAFE DRIVING KIT with Wheels, Inc., to help employers stop the leading cause of workplace death

RESEARCH

RELEASED THE FIRST STATE OF SAFETY REPORT, finding no state earned an “A” overall, though eight states earned “A” grades for road safety

SURVEYED DRIVERS to determine behaviors and beliefs that may increase the likelihood of a crash; national poll findings indicate 64% of drivers felt it was safe to drive while taking opioid pain medication, 39% felt safe to use voice commands, and 39% were scared or surprised by something their car did

RELEASED UNDERCOUNTED IS UNDERINVESTED, highlighting gaps in crash reporting; uncovered most states lack codes to record driver fatigue, advanced driver assistance technologies, use of infotainment systems and teen driver restrictions

ADMINISTERED $1 MILLION IN GRANTS with funding from NHTSA to seven traffic safety projects around the country through the Road to Zero Coalition

JOINED Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) AS A RESEARCH PARTNER on the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, with topics including advanced vehicle technology, pedestrian and cyclist safety and fatigued driving

ADVOCACY

LAUNCHED A NATIONAL CHECK TO PROTECT CAMPAIGN with FCA Group to raise awareness around automotive recalls

TESTIFIED BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE in support of truck automation, and played an active advisory role in the development of automation-related federal and state legislation

SUPPORTED Texas becoming the 47^th state with a ban on texting behind the wheel

CONTRIBUTED to Utah becoming the first state in the U.S. to lower legal impaired driving limit to .05 BAC

GREEN CROSS SAFETY ADVOCATE AWARD winner Deputy Chief Lou Jogmen inspired the International Association of Chiefs of Police to launch National Rail Safety Week in September 2017

RELEASED a parody music video to take the Just Drive theme for Distracted Driving Awareness Month mainstream

INCREASED REACH by 70% for NSC Distracted Driving materials on nsc.org

PARTNERED WITH Travelers Institute for Symposium Series on Distracted Driving held on college campuses