Driving a vehicle or riding in one as a passenger places you at risk. While you may be a safe driver, other individuals in Maryland may not be as cautious. Unfortunately, they can cause a car accident to occur quickly.
Fatalities increase on U.S. roads in 2021
In 2021, statistics showed that this problem may be getting worse as there was a significant increase in fatalities. Nearly 43,000 deaths occurred on U.S. roads. This figure was a big increase over 2020 and was the largest percentage increase since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began collecting data. Dangerous behaviors while driving are cited as factors. These poor decisions included:
- Driving while using alcohol or drugs
- Speeding
- Driving or riding without a seatbelt
- Driving with distractions
Eliminating these unsafe practices is needed to make roads and highways safer for everyone.
National roadway safety strategy is announced
The federal government recognized the need to address the situation with the increase in fatalities on U.S. roads. They formed the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) to help create awareness about the crisis. This roadmap offers steps that the U.S. Department of Transportation will take to help solve this deadly problem. Doing so will hopefully help decrease the number of personal injuries and deaths happening due to motor vehicle accidents.
Key ways to help decrease injuries and deaths
The NRSS provides a few key methods that will be used to help make roadways in the United States safer, which include the following:
- Leverage technology to improve motor vehicle safety. This technology can include rulemaking on automatic emergency braking and pedestrian automatic emergency braking.
- Improve relationships with states and local road owners to build and maintain safer roadways.
- Invest in road safety via funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding will include a new $6 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All program.
Hopefully, these efforts will help improve the situation and lead to safer roadways.