United States: Road mortality in the United States declined 4.5 percent in the first nine months of the year to 30,435 after spiking dramatically during the COVID-19 epidemic, the National Highway Road Safety Administration (NHTSA) informed a US House of Representatives Committee on Wednesday.
“While we are optimistic that we’re finally seeing a reversal of the record-high fatalities seen during the pandemic, this is not a cause for celebration,” according to written testimony from Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson that Reuters saw.
Thirty-one thousand eight hundred eighty (31,880) deaths were reported in the first nine months of 2022, which is lower, but traffic deaths were still above the pre-pandemic levels.
US automakers forced to adopt life-saving tech by 2024
On Tuesday, US auto-safety regulators said that they had begun to work on the technology to prevent intoxicated or drowsy drivers from starting the vehicle.
In 2021, Congress ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a tech to prevent more than 10,000 road deaths annually and if the technology is shown how available, it’ll be standard by November 2024.
However, NHTSA must first ensure that the technology works before requiring it and then give automakers at least three years to deploy it after the rules are finalized.
“We’re trying to see if we can get it done if the technology exists in a way that will work every time,” said Ann Carlson, acting NHTSA administrator, adding that the dependency on technology will depend upon its accuracy.
“If it’s (only) 99.9% accurate, you could have a million false positives,” Carlson said, adding, “Those false positives could be somebody trying to get to the hospital for an emergency.”
On Tuesday, the NHTSA issued an “advance notice of proposed rulemaking” to gather information on how such technology may be created and mandated.
Its regulatory notice outlined the research and technology improvements required to establish laws and prospective rule choices, stating, “Blood alcohol content detection, impairment detection (driver monitoring), or a combination.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) applauds progress
Tess Rowland, the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), said the group was “very pleased” with NHTSA’s launch.
According to the most recent statistics available, 13,384 people have died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths in 2021.
Carlson testified before a US House of Representatives committee on Wednesday that road deaths in the United States declined 4.5 percent in the first nine months of the year after spiking dramatically during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“While we are optimistic that we’re finally seeing a reversal of the record-high fatalities seen during the pandemic, this is not a cause for celebration,” Carlson’s written testimony read.