Highway crashes cause 95 percent of all transportation-related fatalities and 99 percent of transportation injuries, and are the leading cause of death for people ages 4 through 33. Alcohol is the single biggest contributing factor to fatal crashes – claiming 17,448 lives in 2001 alone (equating to 41 percent of all crash related fatalities). Just over 12 percent of all people killed in motor vehicle incidents are involved in a crash with a large truck, yet trucks represent only 3.6 percent of registered vehicles and 7 percent of the vehicle-miles of travel. About 25 percent of Americans (or about 70 million people) still do not use safety belts when driving or riding in motor vehicles. The large number of crashes has placed a considerable burden on our Nation's health care system and has affected us significantly economically – reaching $230.6 billion a year, or an average of $820 for every person living in the United States. DOT seeks to abate this major public health problem and avoid much pain, suffering, and economic loss to the nation by preventing highway crashes and mitigating the effects when crashes do occur.

Performance Goals

• Reduce highway fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled to no more than 1.0 in 2008, from 1.7 in 1996.
• Reduce large truck-related fatalities per 100 million truck vehicle-miles traveled to no more than 1.65 in 2008, from 2.8 in 1996.
  

Performance measures

(r) Revised; # Preliminary estimate.

External Factors: Vehicle travel has increased more than 2 percent per year for the last decade, and truck travel grew over 3 percent annually. The most crash-prone population groups - older drivers (over age 65) and drivers ages 15 to 24 - are growing at faster rates than the overall population. Shifts in the amount of travel, population growth, and employment status have a large influence on the incidence of traffic crashes. Competitive pressures on trucking firms and shipping firms are likely to persist due to the continuing productivity trends in American industry toward inventory-in-motion, just-in-time delivery, and shifting patterns in truckload volume and travel.

Strategies and Initiatives to Achieve 2004 Target: DOT resources attributable to these performance measures are depicted below:

NHTSA’s safety programs include research ($10 million) and rulemakings to prevent and mitigate effects of motor vehicle crashes, consumer educational and other outreach activities, motor vehicle and motor vehicle equipment enforcement activities, demonstration of traffic safety countermeasures, and grants to States to ensure that crash prevention and post-crash response efforts are more effective.

FMCSA conducts research aimed at reducing crashes involving large trucks and buses, collects and analyzes commercial motor vehicle crash data for strategy development, sets standards and oversees State commercial driver licensing programs, inspects motor carriers and individual trucks for compliance, enforces motor carrier safety regulations, conducts outreach to motor carrier and passenger vehicle communities, and carries out a wide-ranging motor carrier safety grant program to help States conduct their motor carrier safety programs.

FHWA conducts research on safer highway infrastructure design, and undertakes outreach efforts with States to share best design and operational practices for pedestrian, bicycle, highway, and at-grade rail crossing safety.

Education and outreach

NHTSA will focus on: 1) publicizing the dangers of drunk and impaired driving and the benefits of using safety belts; 2) reducing fatalities and injuries associated with fatigued or distracted drivers by developing and deploying educational programs on the safe use of in-vehicle technology; 3) developing and implementing educational programs and material for older drivers and their health care professionals; 4) reducing motorcycle crashes (which now account for almost 8 percent of fatalities), bicycle and pedestrian crashes (which account for 13 percent of fatalities), and in concert with FHWA and other partners integrating pedestrian and bicyclist safety considerations in highway planning and design; and 5) educating motorists about blind spots around large trucks and buses.

Impaired driving ($148 million in grants and operations/research): Studies indicate that performance results for alcohol-related fatalities should improve as additional States implement new .08 BAC laws. Due to the FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act provision establishing a sanction if States fail to adopt a standard of .08 BAC, the number of States with .08 laws has increased from 19 to 34 in addition to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. However, NHTSA still plans to analyze all 50 States DWI laws to determine other strengths and weaknesses and recommendations for improvement.

With State and local partners, DOT will implement countermeasures targeting high-risk drivers, including youth 21-34 year olds, and repeat offenders. NHTSA’s impaired driving counter-measure operations and research programs will focus on reducing alcohol and drug use associated with driving, and will include developing new supporting materials under the You Drink and Drive. You Lose. campaign and two nationwide law enforcement blitzes.

Safety belts ($205 million in grants and operations/research): NHTSA will continue its safety belt use outreach to high-risk populations – African-Americans, Hispanics, rural and youth populations -- those having traditionally lower than average safety belt use rates and higher fatality rates – and continue to encourage States to embrace “Click It or Ticket” as the message or theme for their Buckle Up Campaigns. Focus group testing has shown that “Click It or Ticket” resonates well with the hard-core non-user of safety belts.

Reducing car-truck crashes: FMCSA will work with FHWA, NHTSA, and State highway safety authorities on the Share the Road Safely and No-Zone campaigns, which educate motorists about blind spots around large trucks and buses.

Safer infrastructure (totaling $4.3 billion): FHWA will encourage States’ strategic approaches to highway project prioritization through better safety analysis. This will rest on better causal analysis from improved crash data collection and analysis. At the project level, FHWA will encourage better use of roadway safety audits and reviews, and a re-emphasis on the need to address human factors in transportation system design and operation. FHWA, AASHTO, and ITE will implement the national intersection safety agenda.

Compliance and enforcement

NHTSA ensures vehicle and equipment manufacturers recall all vehicles and equipment items having safety defects or that do not comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. NHTSA will also support the biannual Operation ABC (America Buckles Up Children) Mobilizations. The number of law enforcement agencies supporting this effort has also grown to more than 11,000 agencies during the November 2002 Mobilization. NHTSA will also encourage State support of a major new initiative for weekly high-visibility impaired driving enforcement.

FMCSA conducts enforcement activities to ensure compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) to reduce the number of unsafe drivers and carriers who operate on our roads and at our borders. FMCSA plans 10,000 compliance reviews, 30,000 New Entrant safety audits, and 2 million roadside inspections in 2004 ($33.2 million).

With the opening of the southern border, FMCSA will ensure Mexican motor carriers operating in this country adhere to the same safety regulations, standards, and norms as domestic and Canadian carriers. FMCSA plans 3,000 border safety audits and 500,000 border inspections in 2004 ($74.9 million).
A DOT rule mandating drug testing for transportation service providers is another important element of the national effort to reduce both the demand for illegal substances, and the inappropriate use of a legal substance (alcohol) that are precursors to impaired driving.

Infrastructure design, research, regulatory and data programs

NHTSA rulemakings will address upgraded side impact protection, improved seating systems, school bus and motor bus safety, crash test dummy improvements, glare from headlamps and daytime running lights, and motorcycle safety improvements.

FMCSA and NHTSA will jointly (1) continue the comprehensive crash causation study to determine factors contributing to commercial motor vehicle crashes and countermeasures to prevent future crashes, and (2) implement a Commercial Vehicle Analysis Reporting System (CVARS), to provide data on all truck and bus crashes involving a fatality, injury, or towed vehicle.

FMCSA will press ahead the Information Systems and Safety Strategies Initiatives (ISSSI) including:

• development of Unified Carrier Register and New Entrant requirements;
• improved commercial vehicle safety data collection and distribution to Federal and State offices; and
• the Performance Registration Information and Systems Management (PRISM) program, which provides States with a direct link between carrier safety performance and vehicle registration information will be improved.

• reducing roadway departure crashes (single vehicle run-off-road crashes and head-on or sideswipe crashes from the opposite direction) by encouraging greater use of roadside improvements, such as rumble strips, more use of retro-reflective signs and improved markings, and removal of roadside hazards;
• reducing the number of collisions at intersections through better design and by more use of operational tools at risky intersections;
• improving pedestrian safety by examining causes of pedestrian-related crashes in major urban areas and selected rural locations, so that States can more carefully target their pedestrian safety programs; and
• encouraging States to adopt strategic and performance-based goals, implement data improvement programs, and identify priority improvement projects.

Traffic safety on Federally owned roads continue to be an important concern. Many high-risk segments on federally owned park and recreational roads have not been adequately identified or addressed. FHWA will fund needed safety improvements and encourage adoption of safety management systems and practices, such as improved crash data collection that improve problem identification and analysis capabilities.

FHWA, NHTSA, FMCSA and FTA are jointly developing technological solutions to improve safety. The Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) and Intelligent Transportation System programs are developing driver assistance systems to reduce the number and severity of crashes. Systems now under development will warn drivers of dangerous situations and recommend corrective action, or, in some cases, even assume partial control of vehicles to avoid collisions.

Grants

Highway Safety ($447 million) and Motor Carrier Safety ($223 million) grants will continue to provide resources to the States and territories, enabling a more integrated approach to highway and motor carrier safety. NHTSA grants will fund safety belt and impaired driving enforcement, better safety data collection, and provide incentives for strong State highway safety programs. FMCSA grants will fund State-conducted motor carrier inspections and compliance reviews, hazardous materials training, State border safety enforcement programs, public education, and maintenance of an enforcement data collection and reporting system.

Other Federal Programs with Common Outcomes: NHTSA works with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies on several public health issues, such as drinking and driving, child safety, and emergency medical services; with the Department of Justice for enforcement issues and the Office of National Drug Control Policy for alcohol and other drug issues; and with the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of Commerce, State, and Energy on harmonization of global technical regulations to enhance the safety of motor vehicles and to minimize technical barriers to trade.

FMCSA and NHTSA coordinate southern border safety enforcement efforts with the Department of Homeland Security, and FMCSA is developing and pilot testing the ITDS (International Trade Data System) to consolidate information on motor carrier border crossings to serve safety, commercial, law enforcement, and national security missions.

FHWA coordinates safe infrastructure programs with the National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The National Academy of Sciences, primarily through the Transportation Research Board, supports key programs through the use of expert panels and committees that offer essential perspective and advice.

Both DOT and NTSB strive to understand the causes of transportation incidents and to reduce the number of highway-related fatalities and injuries. NTSB investigates significant crashes, helps provide information on causes and potential solutions, helps identify infrastructure enhancements to improve highway safety, and provides recommendations on program improvements.

NHTSA supplementary performance measures

(r) Revised; N/A Not available.