A national campaign has been launched in the US to reduce traffic deaths.
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has launched the Call to Action initiative, asking stakeholders to commit to specific actions in 2023 to reduce serious injuries and deaths on roadways.
“Traffic crashes cost tens of thousands of American lives a year—a national crisis on our roadways—and everyone has an important role to play in addressing it,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“We are issuing a national call to action and asking all Americans—including private industry, non-profit and advocacy organizations, and every level of government—to join us in acting to save lives on our roadways.”
The Call to Action comes alongside the first anniversary of the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, a document that outlines a concrete set of actions the Department has committed to and adopts the five-pronged Safe System Approach to help reduce roadway fatalities, which includes safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds, safer roads, and post-crash care, to work towards a goal of zero fatalities.
The Department created the strategy after traffic deaths in America steadily decreased for decades, but then surged during the early days of the pandemic in 2020. USDOT said deaths remain “stubbornly high” with nearly 43,000 people killed in 2021.
