MEDIA ALERT: News Conference and Webcast – Tue. Jan. 22, 2019
CONTACT: Bill Bronrott, 202-270-4415, bronrott@gmail.com; Allison Kennedy, 202-408-1711 or 360-281-7033, akennedy@saferoads.org
NEW REPORT: 50 States and DC to be Graded on Traffic Safety Laws; Best & Worst States Will be Named
With 37,000 People Dying on our Roads Each Year, How Many Lifesaving Laws Does Each State Lack? Start of State Legislative Sessions Prime Opportunity to Close Gaps, Save Lives
Driverless vehicles may curb deaths and injuries in future, but proven effective laws and current technologies can reduce this public health epidemic now.
WHAT:
NEWS CONFERENCE & WEBCAST – Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety will release the 2019 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws ranking all 50 states and the District of Columbia on passage of 16 essential traffic safety laws. The “Best & Worst” states for enacting optimal laws will be identified. The new report will provide state-specific data, deaths and related economic costs. Across all states, hundreds of legislative gaps are contributing to the daily average toll of 100 deaths and 8,500 injuries in the U.S.
While driverless vehicles may offer a promise of reducing crashes, deaths and injuries in the future, the new Roadmap report will be a call to action for state elected officials to close lethal loopholes with proven effective laws during this year’s legislative sessions. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation will be called on to require existing, proven safety technologies in all new vehicles to prevent and mitigate crashes.
WHEN:
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019, at 11:00 AM EST
WHERE:
Reserve Officers Association, One Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, DC, “Top of the Hill” Minuteman Ballroom
WHO:
Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Janette Fennell (Philadelphia, PA), Founder and President of KidsAndCars.org and Consumer Co-chair of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Matt Gannon, Head of Federal Affairs, Farmers Insurance Group, and Board Member of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Colonel James J. Mendonca, Chief of Police, Central Falls Police Department, Rhode Island
Elda Ramirez, PhD, RN (Houston, TX), Director, Emergency/Trauma Nurse Practitioner Program, University of Texas; Founder, American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners; Emergency Nurses Association member and Fellow of the Academy of Emergency Nursing. NOTE: Dr. Ramirez esta disponible para entrevistas en Español
Helen Witty (South Florida), National President, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), whose 16-year-old daughter, Helen Marie, was killed by an alcohol- and marijuana-impaired teen driver
LIVE WEBCAST of the news conference will be available at SafeRoads.org, with an opportunity for questions from news media.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA KIT, including the 2019 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, will be available on Tuesday, January 22 at 12:01 AM EST at SafeRoads.org.
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