Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
As a Virginia resident and mother of a teenager whom I’m trying to teach how to drive safely, I greatly appreciated Opinions Editor Pamela Stallsmith’s recent editorial, “Driving during COVID-19: What’s the rush?” calling on drivers to slow down on our state’s roadways. I have witnessed firsthand the reckless driving that has become more common since the start of the pandemic.
read moreIn June, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced drastic changes to federal truck driver hours of service (HOS) rules. Under the guise of increased flexibility, the changes will further exacerbate the already well-known threat of fatigue among commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers by significantly weakening current HOS rules. As such, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT) and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) have filed a petition today with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to invalidate this flawed rule. The parties are represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group.
read moreThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970 with the mission of reducing the number of deaths, injuries, and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. While a series of “pat on the back” online discussions this week will focus on progress made over the last 50 years, in reality this agency is failing to meet the moment. Just today, the National Safety Council released statistics for the first half of 2020 showing fatality rates on our roadways are estimated to have increased 20 percent. Clearly more can and must be done to address this disturbing and distressing uptick.
read moreAs we approach Labor Day, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) encourages everyone to think about the origin of the holiday which was created more than a century ago to celebrate the contributions of workers in the U.S., including those whose workplace is behind the wheel and on our roads. Truck drivers, transit workers, passenger vehicle drivers, first responders, road maintenance and construction workers, and other essential employees all have jobs that require navigating roadways which have seen marked increases in speeding and reckless driving since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They deserve the safest possible work environment, a goal which can be achieved in part through ensuring widespread use of proven vehicle safety technology and employing reliable countermeasures that reduce dangerous driving behavior.
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