July 7, 2022 – The head of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday the agency plans a new push to convince Americans to stop speeding, hoping to reduce traffic deaths which have risen sharply in recent years.
U.S. traffic deaths have surged since 2020. The number of speeding-related traffic deaths increased by 17% to 11,258, while overall traffic deaths rose 7.2%. In 2021, U.S. traffic deaths jumped 10.5% to 42,915, the highest annual number killed on American roads in a since 2005.
NHTSA Administrator Steven Cliff wants speeding to “be as undesirable and seen as negatively as other types of bad” driving habits. Cliff said NHTSA is moving aggressively to get new regulations out and “kicking off a lot of rulemakings related to automation.” Since January 2021, the agency has finalized 16 rules and begun work on 25 new rules.
