FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2021
CONTACT: Pete Daniels / [email protected] / 301-442-2249 (C)
Statement of Cathy Chase, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), on New Motor Vehicle Crash Fatality Figures
The preliminary 2020 motor vehicle crash fatality figures released today by the National Safety Council (NSC) confirm what has been widely reported throughout the country – despite people driving less frequently, more are being killed on our roadways. It is tragic that we have proven “vaccines” that could be significantly bringing down these numbers but they are not being implemented. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as automatic emergency braking, have been demonstrated to considerably reduce or mitigate crashes. Yet, a number of auto manufacturers are not putting them in new cars as standard equipment. Instead, they are upcharging for them in luxury packages coupled with non-safety features. A family should not have to pay thousands of additional dollars to get the safest braking system, and many cannot afford to do so.
This inequitable practice can and must be stopped by the U.S. Department of Transportation requiring these technologies as standard equipment and compliant with minimum safety standards. Similarly, advanced impaired driving prevention technology should be required to prevent people who are impaired by alcohol or drugs from getting behind the wheel. Additionally, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety releases a Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws every year rating states on 16 commonsense laws covering occupant protection, child passenger safety, teen driving, impaired driving, and distracted driving. Nearly 400 laws are missing throughout the country, and no state has enacted all of the recommendations. According to this new NSC report with every passing hour, approximately five people are being killed in preventable crashes. It is time for our federal and state officials to step up and stop this unconscionable death toll.
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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