The U.S. is in a “highway security emergency” and regulators are failing to fulfill the second, David Harkey, president of the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security, advised legislators in a June 26 congressional listening to.
Between 2014 and 2022, U.S. automobile crash deaths rose practically 30%, with greater than 42,000 folks dying on U.S. roads in 2022 alone. In written testimony, Harkey identified the spike in fatalities “will not be a world development; in actual fact the U.S. is an outlier.”
“At IIHS, we’re alarmed by the rising toll of crashes on our nation’s roads and dismayed by an obvious lack of urgency about fixing the issue,” Harkey stated.
The listening to earlier than the Home Committee on Power and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Commerce was referred to as to solicit perception for a brand new motorized vehicle security title that the subcommittee is pursuing as a part of Congress’ reauthorization of federal floor transportation packages.
Rep. Russ Fulcher of Idaho, who vice-chairs the subcommittee, stated the group is trying to deal with automobile security whereas additionally guaranteeing that the “regulatory construction can foster, reasonably than hinder” the U.S. automotive trade.
NHTSA is the federal company charged with regulating freeway security, and in response to Harkey, it could actually do way more to avoid wasting lives on the highway. Harkey stated NHTSA is making regulatory choices too slowly and never recognizing the worth of sure security interventions.
“Regardless of its many essential roles and vital previous achievements, NHTSA is failing to fulfill the second,” Harkey stated. “In recent times, it has approached its job with an absence of urgency, utilizing flawed methodologies that underestimate the security advantages of clearly helpful interventions.”
IIHS is a nonprofit group funded by auto insurance coverage corporations and devoted to lowering deaths, accidents and property harm in automobile crashes.
Although with out regulatory authority, Harkey stated his group “has discovered methods to fill gaps left by NHTSA.” He described how IIHS rankings typically assist drive automaker security enhancements, together with crash avoidance know-how and developments in automobile buildings, airbags, seat belts and headlights.
Harkey stated NHTSA ought to transfer shortly on a number of insurance policies, together with requiring anti-lock braking techniques for bikes, mandating impaired driving prevention know-how for brand new autos and overseeing the secure improvement of partial automation techniques.
“NHTSA has a vital function to play in confronting our present highway security emergency, however doing so requires stronger management, a way of urgency and a larger willingness to behave,” Harkey stated.
