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Our Advocacy
What's The Big Deal?
The U.S. now ranks a dismal 42nd out of 48 developed countries on highway safety due to our large number of traffic fatalities per capita.
More than 42,000 people continue to be killed on U.S. roads each year -- enough to fill all the seats of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball stadium. And that's just the number killed! Several million more are injured in crashes on our roads each year, many of them critically.
As a citizens group, we can do little directly to stop dangerous driving behavior. Traffic enforcement is the sole domain of local, state and, federal authorities. However, we can do a great deal to influence the direction of our nation's road safety programs simply by speaking out about what is wrong with the current system and what can be done to fix it.
We have not abandoned our dream of a safe transportation system, where innocent people do not have to suffer sudden, violent death on their way to work, school, a football game, or the grocery store. We have not abandoned our vision of responsible government doing everything within reason to protect us and our loved ones on the roads.
Now, after more than 10 years of advocacy on the issue, we are seeing signs of a possible breakthrough. More and more people, including government officials, are recognizing that change is necessary and taking an active interest in our proposals.
With your help, we can transform this fledgling grassroots movement into a powerful voice for change.
So please, let today be the day you reject indifference and apathy and embrace hope and progress.
Top Priorities for FY 2008-2010
- Promotion of a successful grassroots movement to get highway safety on the national agenda and press officials at all levels of government -- from small-town mayor to presidential candidates -- to acknowledge and address the nation's road safety crisis.
- Creation of a federally funded, year-round nationwide media campaign to discourage all forms of dangerous driving, including speeding, aggressive driving, distracted driving, drowsy driving, alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, age-impaired driving, operating a vehicle with faulty equipment, and unsafe towing practices.
- A federally mandated national speed governor setting that reflects the maximum safe driving speed on U.S. roads (Currently there is no limit to how fast cars can be made to go, so automakers are setting their speed governors at anywhere between 100 and 260 mph.)
- A nationwide ban on the use of hand-held and hands-free cellular telephones while driving, as well as computers, pagers, Palm Pilots, DVD players, and fax machines.
- A commitment on the part of local, state and federal governments to allocate the necessary resources and adopt the necessary technologies for strict enforcement of speed limits, red lights, and stop signs.
- A federal law requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with Event Data Recorders that provide scientific proof of a motorist's speed when involved in a crash, rather than requiring police to guess at this critical piece of data.
- An overhaul of the nation's archaic reckless and negligent driving laws, which allow many dangerous drivers who kill to walk away with just a small fine.
- Federal legislation requiring that truck drivers be paid by the hour, not by the mile, and that the number of hours they work be tightly restricted and monitored with in-vehicle technology.
- A federal law making it a felony to flee from police officers but also requiring that officers adopt safe alternatives to dangerous high-speed chases on city streets and highways.
- A federal law mandating periodic re-testing of all licensed drivers to ensure that they are physically and mentally fit to drive; promotion of convenient and affordable alternatives for those who are physically or mentally unfit for the task.
Current Action Items
FY 2008
Below are the programs for which we are currently asking your financial support.
1) National Safe Driving Campaign
The Partnership has presented to the U.S. Senate a proposal for the creation of a year-round federally funded National Safe Driving Campaign that can raise public awareness about the staggering crash, injury and fatality rates on our roads and encourage motorists to make more responsible decisions while driving. To be successful, this campaign must address all forms of dangerous driving, including speeding, aggressive driving, distracted driving, drowsy driving, fatigue, alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, age-impaired driving, operating a vehicle with faulty equipment, and unsafe towing practices.
We are very excited because our proposal has received a favorable response from the Senate subcommittee that is currently reviewing it. We look forward to working with the subcommittee staff and others in 2008 to bring this concept to fruition.
To this end, we are currently raising funds for labor and materials to help us educate policymakers and the public about the potential benefits of a fully funded nationwide year-round safe driving campaign, and the consequences of continuing to ignore the need for such a campaign. Please consider supporting this outreach effort today with a tax-deductible donation of any size.
Read our full proposal here for the National Safe Driving Campaign.
2) National Working Group on Speed Governor Settings
Speed governors are electronic devices that regulate the maximum speed a vehicle can attain. They have nothing to do with pick-up rate, which is controlled by horsepower. These electronic devices are built into the control systems of all vehicles on the market today. However, because they are not regulated, automakers are routinely setting the governors at anywhere between 100 and 160 mph!
The Partnership is seeking to mobilize a National Working Group on Speed Governor Settings. A central task of this Working Group will be the creation of a campaign to educate policymakers and the public about the existence of speed governors on automobiles, the fact that they are not regulated, and the consequences of no regulation.
We recently presented our proposal for this Working Group to the Highway Safety Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police at their annual meeting in New Orleans. We received a favorable response and are now awaiting a decision from members of the committee. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to recruit organizations to this Working Group. We ask your financial support during 2008 as we work to promote what could prove to be the single-most efficient and effective highway safety solution in the history of the automobile.
January 1, 2008 - They're Here!
As the national debate on global warming and energy independence heats up, automakers are unveiling plans to develop and market small, even tiny, new cars to replace our gas-guzzling SUVs. And already the question of safety is threatening to put the brakes on this seemingly positive development.
Whether intentional or not, transportation officials for three decades now have promoted larger vehicles as a central component of their highway safety plan. Officials from these government transportation agencies no doubt are alarmed at the thought of tiny vehicles like this one becoming popular and having to share the road with SUVs and tractor-trailers. Talk about a mismatch! How can we possibly make crashing safe with such a huge disparity in vehicle size?
Since its inception more than ten years ago, the Partnership for Safe Driving has maintained that the solution to our ongoing road safety crisis is not to keep trying in vain to make crashing safe but rather to prevent crashes from happening in the first place. As the nation trends toward smaller vehicles, shifting the focus of highway safety from crash mitigation to crash prevention will become more critical than ever.
Please support the Partnership as we work to educate policymakers and the public about how we can achieve safety, efficiency, and oil independence on our roads.
Pictured: The Smart Fortwo by the Mercedes Car Group. Scheduled to arrive in the US in 2008.
