FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2018
Contact: Kara Macek, kmacek@ghsa.org
202-789-0942 x140
Statement for attribution to Governors Highway Safety Association Executive Director Jonathan Adkins
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation's (U.S. DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the Final Rule for the implementation of the national behavioral highway safety programs in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.
As we review the Final Rule, it is clear that NHTSA has made numerous changes that will provide relief to states. Provisions of the Final Rule aim to streamline bureaucracy, eliminate duplicative reporting requirements and remove other administrative burdens. These improvements will allow states to focus their full attention on the implementation of lifesaving safety programs. The behavioral highway safety programs are more critical than ever given that 37,461 lives were lost on U.S. roads in 2016, a 5.6 percent increase from 2015, and that that driver error is the critical reason for an estimated 94 percent of crashes.1
The Final Rule will replace an Interim Final Rule that NHTSA published in May of 2016. At that time, GHSA and many states and safety advocates raised concerns about new administrative burdens that the regulations imposed upon states as a condition of receiving federal highway safety dollars. These burdens were not required by the FAST Act and made it more difficult for states to concentrate on efforts to advance highway safety.
GHSA thanks NHTSA, U.S. DOT and Congress for their work on the FAST Act and improvements in the subsequent regulatory action. State Highway Safety Offices are committed to a strong state-federal partnership that will lead the nation toward zero fatalities on our roadways.
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1 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812115
About GHSA
The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. GHSA provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management and promote best practices. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans. Contact GHSA at 202-789-0942 or visit www.ghsa.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GHSAhq or follow us on Twitter @GHSAHQ.