Contact: Shane Austin
[email protected]
202.425.2776
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) Recognizes Safety Leaders on 35th Anniversary
(Washington, D.C. | December 4, 2024) Today, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) will bestow awards to numerous recipients who have championed roadway safety as we celebrate our 35th anniversary. Members of Congress, federal and state government leaders, and citizen activists who have fought tirelessly to achieve safe vehicles, safe road users and safe roadway environments will be honored for their efforts at a reception on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
The Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Highway Safety Leadership Award, first commissioned in 2014 to honor the late Senator’s lifesaving legacy, is being presented to the Office of The Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation,, U.S. Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) for the issuance of a Final Rule requiring new vehicles to be equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found this technology holds remarkable promise to reduce crashes. This requirement will ensure that more families have access to the safest braking systems more quickly and that it meets a government safety standard.
Advocates is also proud to present a Highway Safety Hero – Lifetime Achievement Award to three Members of Congress for their impressive tenure working on behalf of safety throughout their time in public service: U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Banking Committee, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer.
Additionally, Advocates will present Highway Safety Hero awards to members of Congress for their oversight of the directives in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58) and other safety efforts. Awardees are U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
Others will be celebrated for their contributions to safety with a Highway Safety Hero award including National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, State Senators Javier L. Cervantes (D-IL), Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez (D-NJ), Donovan Fenton (D-NH) Brad Hutto (D-SC) and Dean Rummel (R-ND), State Representatives/Assemblymembers Rep.-Elect Laura Friedman (D-CA), Jeff Johnson (R-SC), Michael J. Kelly (D-IL), Weston Newton (R-SC), Samantha Sencer-Mura (D-MN) and G. Murrell Smith, Jr. (R-SC), and Mercer County Executive Dan Benson (D-NJ).
The Clarence M. Ditlow III Safety Champion award will be given to Richard Leotta. This award was first established to commemorate the advocacy of Clarence Ditlow, who served as the long-time Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety and who was a founding Board member of Advocates, following his passing in 2016. Rich has been on the frontline in the battle against drunk driving honoring the legacy of his son, the late Officer Noah Leotta. Rich and his family created the Officer Noah Leotta Foundation to educate the public about the drunk driving crisis and support victims.
Advocates congratulates all the award recipients and looks forward to continuing our work together to prevent motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, injuries and associated costs.
Note: Not all recipients are able to attend the reception, and the reception is not open to media. If members of the press are interested in setting up interviews, please contact Shane Austin as noted above.
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Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement, and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to improve road safety in the U.S. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.