January 28, 2022 – A new policy from the Department of Transportation aims to stem roadway fatalities, which have risen rapidly over the past few years, with a new approach – including some initiatives that Consumer Reports and other safety groups have long argued in favor of or worked to support.
Called the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), the plan combines efforts to protect those inside and outside a vehicle in a crash, and takes steps to prevent those crashes from happening in the first place. Many of these projects are straightforward, but others may take years to implement – and some safety advocates warn that the DOT’s commitment to seeing them through is not strong enough.
Instead of a single-minded focus on driver behavior and building vehicles that protect occupants in crashes, the DOT says its new initiatives follow a “safe system” approach.
