MEDIA ALERT
CONTACT: Pete Daniels / pdaniels@saferoads.org / 301-442-2249
Bill Bronrott / bronrott@gmail.com / 202-270-4415
Report Card to Rate 50 States and DC on Passage of Essential Traffic Safety Laws
Fatal Crash Frequency on the Rise During COVID-19 Pandemic Despite Less Traffic. New Report to Give State Lawmakers a Legislative “Roadmap” to Reverse This Deadly Trend During 2021 Sessions.
WHEN: MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 at 11:00 AM EST
WHAT:
VIRTUAL NEWS CONFERENCE – Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) will release the 2021 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, a report rating all 50 states and the District of Columbia on the passage of 16 essential traffic safety laws.
The 2021 Roadmap Report and release event will:
- Assign each state a green, yellow or red rating based on the number of optimal safety laws enacted
- Name the Best & Worst states
- Identify dangerous gaps in each state’s traffic safety laws that contribute to the daily toll of 100 deaths and more than 7,500 injuries on the Nation’s roads
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020, a shocking trend also emerged: A rise in excessive speeding and impaired driving coupled with lower seat belt use leading to a substantial rise in the fatality rate on our roadways despite the presence of fewer cars.
Advocates will call on state lawmakers to use this new report as a roadmap during their 2021 legislative sessions to pass proven, effective laws that will reverse this trajectory and reduce the more than 36,600 deaths and 2.7 million injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes annually.
WHERE:
This news conference will be livestreamed at www.saferoads.org. Reporters tuning into the livestream are invited to submit questions during the event.
WHO:
- Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
- U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL, 8th), Sponsor of the SAFE TO DRIVE Act (116th Congress H.R. 2416), which seeks to encourage states to enact distracted driving laws with the incentive of federal grant money.
- Former State Senator David Carlucci (D-NY, 38th), Senate sponsor of legislation enacted in 2020 that now requires all front and back seat occupants to buckle up in New York.
- Ivette Chaidez, Education Outreach Coordinator for Impact Teen Drivers (California). She became a traffic safety advocate after her sister Itzayana “Itzy” Chaidez was killed in a crash involving a teen driver. NOTE: Ivette esta disponible para entrevistas en Español.
- State Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D-NJ, 31st), Assembly sponsor of legislation (855) to add a prohibition on viewing distracting content while driving such as streaming video and participating in video conferencing.
- Stephen W. Hargarten, MD, MPH, a nationally-recognized leader in emergency medicine, who serves as Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Director of the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
- Alan Maness, Vice President of Federal Affairs and Counsel, State Farm Insurance.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA KIT, including the 2021 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws report, will be available online Monday, January 11, 2021 at 12:01 AM EST at www.saferoads.org. Embargoed copies of the Roadmap report will be made available to the media upon request.
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 make America’s roads safer. 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.
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