The U.S. Department of Transportation is tasking multiple agencies to amp up efforts to make the roads safer – reducing fatalities and injuries.
“This new strategy builds on that progress by doubling down on our coordination with the police, enhancing our anti-congestion initiatives and embracing automotive innovation to make our streets safer than ever,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
To make roads safer, the DOT will make the following a priority:
- Stronger support for transportation workers and first responders and a renewed commitment to law enforcement
- More innovative road design, targeted bottleneck relief and cracking down on dangerous truck drivers to keep traffic moving, reduce congestion and improve crash outcomes
- Modernizing safety standards
- Advancing a national automated vehicle strategy
- Investing in technology to reduce preventable crashes
“We are engineering safety into the bedrock of America’s roads and targeting action where danger is greatest,” Federal Highway Administrator Sean McMaster said.
Commercial vehicles
The plan calls for “key activities” specific to trucking:
- Enforce compliance standards and increase investigative efforts to target high-risk and deceptive motor carriers
- Bolster oversight of programs for licensing safe, qualified commercial drivers
- Elevate truck parking initiatives to expand the availability of truck parking through DOT funding programs
The last point dovetails into $62 million in federal funding for truck parking projects that was awarded to five states in July. These funds were in addition to $200 million earmarked by Congress under the DOT’s INFRA grant programs.
In comments submitted in May, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the need to increase substantive investment in truck parking capacity is long overdue and must be a priority for the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as federal, state and local lawmakers.
“NHTSA is driving towards its goal of eliminating fatalities on America’s roads,” National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Jonathan Morrison said. “Through the national roadway safety strategy and its safe system approach, we are focused on creating safer people, roads and vehicles. Together with the U.S. Department of Transportation, we are committed to delivering a safer future for every traveler.”
The full national roadway safety strategy is available on the U.S. DOT website. LL
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