Media Contact:
Helen Jonsen
hjonsen@saferoads.org
202-977-7534
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, on New 2022 Projected Roadway Fatalities Data
(Washington, D.C.-April 20, 2023) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released new projections for traffic fatalities in 2022, estimating that 42,795 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This means every day 117 people – mothers, fathers, friends, relatives and children – left their homes, offices, athletic fields and grocery stores, and did not return home.
This can and must be stopped now. With each passing day that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) delays completing the vehicle safety rulemakings mandated in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58), lives are in the balance. This includes issuing minimum performance standards for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) (i.e., automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind spot detection (BSD), lane keeping assist (LKA)) and other crash avoidance technologies.
By NHTSA’s count, about half of U.S. states experienced a slight decline in roadway deaths but the other half were projected to have increases in 2022.
There is no time to waste. We must stop the carnage on our roads and use every proven measure possible to prevent more deaths on U.S. highways, roadways and in neighborhoods.