U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
With over 33,000 fatalities occurring on the Nation’s highways each year, roadway safety remains one of the most challenging issues facing America. Although many highway safety stakeholder organizations have stepped forward to address these needs, there is no singular strategy that unites these common efforts. The dialogue on the need to create a national strategic highway safety plan was explored at a workshop in Savannah, Georgia, on September 2–3, 2009. There was strong agreement among the participants that even one death is unacceptable and therefore, we must aspire to move toward zero deaths. Although many details need to be addressed, with this input from over 70 workshop participants and further discussions with the Steering Committee following the workshop, the name of this effort became Toward Zero Deaths: A National Strategy on Highway Safety.
Development of the Toward Zero Deaths National Strategy was led by a group of organizations that represent professionals with a role in highway safety. The associations on the TZD Steering Committee are:
Members and staff of these organizations provided input to and review of the National Strategy.
Technical support was provided by the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
There are currently many diverse initiatives and programs to increase safety on the nation’s roadways. Many stakeholders have their own strategic plans that guide their individual activities, and many of these organizations involve their highway safety partners as they develop coordinated safety plans to and put them into action. Federal transportation laws require each state to develop a strategic highway safety plan that focuses the efforts of all state safety partners on the highest priority traffic safety needs statewide. What is missing, however, is a specific single vision that brings together all the various stakeholders nationwide with a role in highway safety. The Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) National Strategy on Highway Safety (the National Strategy) will bring these stakeholders together, and defines the common vision that will drive their individual and collaborative efforts.
The National Strategy vision is a highway system free of fatalities through a sustained and even accelerated decline in transportation-related deaths and injuries. Safety organizations and professionals embracing this vision agree to aggressively work toward an intermediate goal specific to their jurisdiction or the safety issue on which they focus.
The Toward Zero Deaths: National Strategy on Highway Safety has been posted on the TZD website: http://www.towardzerodeaths.org/