WHAT

NEWS CONFERENCE – Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety will release the 2024 Roadmap to Safety rating the 50 states and DC on passage of 16 proven effective traffic safety laws and available countermeasures to reduce crashes, injuries and deaths. In 2022, an estimated 42,795 people were killed on U.S. roads. Traffic fatalities remain historically high.

The 2024 report will:

• Rate each state and DC as Green, Yellow or Red based on their progress toward enacting the 16 optimal traffic safety laws.
• Call on Governors and state legislatures to close gaps in their laws during their 2024 sessions to address drunk driving, distracted driving, young driver safety, seat belt and child safety seat use, motorcycle helmet use, and speeding by employing automated enforcement.
• Urge the U.S. Transportation Department to step up implementing pending federal vehicle safety standards, including those required by the landmark bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (Pub. L. 117-58).

WHERE

In-person: 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC – 9th Floor Conference Center.

Livestream at www.saferoads.org. Closed captioning available. Reporters on the livestream can submit questions during the event. Individual interviews with speakers may also be arranged upon request.

WHO

• Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
• U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Member, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and a vehicle safety champion in Congress.
• Mary Jagim MS, RN, CEN, FAEN, Past President, Emergency Nurses Association, Consumer Co-Chair of Advocates’ Board.
• Deputy Police Chief Michael Rodriguez, Buffalo Grove (Illinois) Police Department, and member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
• MADD National President Tess Rowland, who was severely injured by a drunk driver while she was on route to work at WMBB News in Panama City, Florida.
• Matt Gannon, Head of Federal Affairs, Farmers Insurance, Insurance Co-Chair of Advocates’ Board.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA KIT, including the 2024 Roadmap to Safety report, will be available online Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 12:01 am ET at www.saferoads.org. Embargoed copies of the new report will be made available to the media upon request.

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS are families of deceased loved ones and groups featured on the NEW advocacy pages who are pushing for safety laws and standards to prevent future tragedies:

• Latanya Byrd (Pennsylvania) whose niece Samara Banks and three grandnephews were killed by a speeding motorist while crossing the street in Philadelphia. Latanya has become a traffic safety advocate with Families for Safe Streets in Pennsylvania and fought for state passage of a pilot program using speed photo enforcement.
• Andrew and Jamie Dill (Indiana), parents of 3-year-old Ollie who died of heatstroke in a car. The Dills are urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to require technology to detect and alert to unattended passengers to prevent “hot car” fatalities and injuries.
• Jill Fackelman (New Jersey), faculty advisor and point of contact for the Click Clack Front and Back Club, Indian Hills High School, which is pushing the New Jersey Legislature to upgrade the rear seat belt law to primary enforcement.
• Pat Hines (California), mother of Nora Rose-Hines, a 19-year-old UCLA freshman killed by a teen driver. The Nora Rose-Hines Foundation advocates for more comprehensive young driver safety laws in California.
• Dan Petterson (Michigan), President of the Skilled Motorcyclist Association – Responsible, Trained and Educated Riders (SMARTER), a nonprofit motorcyclist association advocating for all-rider motorcycle helmet requirements.
• Nina Todd (Iowa), mother of Alex, age 5, and Maliki, age 4, who were killed in a crash caused by a distracted driver who was texting while attempting to pass cars in a no passing zone. Nina has since worked tirelessly with StopDistractions.org and others to upgrade Iowa’s distracted driving laws.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.

Media Contact

Bill Bronrott, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, 1 202-270-4415, [email protected], www.saferoads.org

Shane Austin, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, 1 202-425-2776, [email protected], www.saferoads.org

SOURCE Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety