FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 15, 2022
CONTACT: Allison Kennedy / akennedy@saferoads.org / 360-281-7033 (C)
Statement from Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), on the Letter Sent by 10 Senators Urging Action on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Safety Provisions
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) commends Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) for leading a letter to Ann Carlson, Acting Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58). Today marks the one-year anniversary of the law’s signing (see Advocates’ statement here), and this milestone presents a key opportunity to call for progress on the safety directives which were enacted. The provisions in the IIJA must be implemented with urgency as traffic fatalities continue to persist at egregiously high levels, with data from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) revealing nearly 43,000 people were killed in crashes last year. It is essential that NHTSA and U.S. DOT deliver on the safety advances in the IIJA and especially to “view the IIJA directives as a starting point, and not the finish line, for issuing rules and taking actions to reduce motor vehicle fatalities,” as the letter states.
In addition to Senators Markey and Blumenthal, Advocates lauds Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) for their leadership and dedication to these critically needed safety improvements.
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.
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