Faster, more decisive action from America’s top vehicle safety regulator is needed to reverse a drastic escalation in fatal crashes on the nation’s roadways, David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said at a congressional hearing on June 26.
The United States is in the middle of a road safety emergency, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “is failing to meet the moment,” Harkey said in written testimony submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, which convened the hearing on the state of NHTSA and motor vehicle safety.
Beginning in the 1960s, NHTSA and its predecessor agencies spurred dramatic improvements in road safety by issuing safety standards, funding vital research and supporting pilot projects to demonstrate the effectiveness of specific interventions, Harkey said. For example, the requirement that all vehicles be equipped with frontal airbags is estimated to have saved 70,000 lives through 2019.
Now, though, the numbers are trending in the wrong direction. Crash deaths on U.S. roads have risen nearly 30% from below 33,000 in 2014 to more than 42,000 in 2022. With a new initiative called 30×30, IIHS has targeted reversing that decline by 2030.
“NHTSA has an essential role to play in confronting our current road safety emergency, but doing so requires stronger leadership, a sense of urgency and a greater willingness to act,” Harkey said.
He mentioned several specific measures the agency should take right away.
Regulations requiring antilock braking systems for motorcycles, mandating technology to prevent impaired driving and setting stringent requirements for safety features on semitrailers are all long overdue, he argued.
More active oversight from NHTSA is also needed on vehicle automation, where a regulatory gap has contributed to drivers’ confusion over the capabilities of technology in their vehicles.
SOURCE: IIHS
