The National Transportation Safety Board Targets 10 Causes of Motor Vehicle Accident Deaths
Since 1990, the National Transportation Safety Board has issued its annual “Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements” in its efforts to save lives and prevent injuries in all sorts of traffic accidents, from auto accidents to motorcycle crashes to fatalities involving commercial vehicles like semi-trucks and big rigs, as well as buses and trains.
This week, the NTSB released its 2019 – 2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.
It contains ten (10) areas which the federal government considers to be top priority in reducing today’s unacceptably high risk of a deadly accident on America’s roadways.
The NTSB Most Wanted List’s Top Ten
The 10 items on the NTSB’s 2019 – 2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements cover issues which impact all of us who drive the roads of Indiana and Illinois.
Over the years, we continue to address our concerns regarding these dangers and the tragic results facing victims of the following known roadway dangers. For those representing fatal accident victims and their families, these targets come as no surprise.
Here are the Top Ten Accident Dangers from NTSB:
- Eliminate Distractions
For more, read “Employer Liability for Distracted Driving Accidents in Indiana or Illinois.”
- End Alcohol and Other Drug Impairment
For more, read “Drunk Driving Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Danger of a Fatal DUI Crash.”
- Ensure the Safe Shipment of Hazardous Materials
For more, read “Feds Change Hazardous Materials Regs for Trucks and Semis and Carriers on the Road.”
- Fully Implement Positive Train Control
For more, read “Railroad Safety Laws: the Danger of Fatal Train Crashes in Indiana.”
- Implement a Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Speeding-Related Crashes
For more, read “Illinois Roads Are More Dangerous After Gov. Quinn Okays Faster Semi Truck Speeds at 65 MPH and More.”
- Improve the Safety of Part 135 Aircraft Flight Operations
For more, read “General Aviation Accidents: Fatal Plane Crashes in Indiana and Illinois.”
- Increase Implementation of Collision Avoidance Systems in All New Highway Vehicles
For more, read “Car Crashes and Automated Car Technology: The Changing Focus of Auto Accident Claims in Illinois and Indiana.”
- Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents
For more, read “Commercial Truck Drivers, Fatigue, and the 2014 Naperville Illinois Truck Crash.”
- Require Medical Fitness – Screen for and Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea
For more, read “Truck Driver Health and Fatal Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois.”
- Strengthen Occupant Protection
For more, read: “Why the Rise in Car Crash Deaths and Fatal Traffic Accidents?”
NTSB Wants Fast Action: Two Year Time Frame
Not only is the federal government calling on states to pass legislation to deal with these known dangers, the NTSB wants things to happen fast.
From NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt:
“The 2019 – 2020 Most Wanted List advocates for 46 specific safety recommendations that can and should be implemented during these next two years. It also features broad, longstanding safety issues that still threaten the traveling public.
“We at the NTSB can speak on these issues. We board members can testify by invitation to legislatures and to Congress, but we have no power of our own to act. We are counting on industry, advocates, and government to act on our recommendations. We are counting on the help of the broader safety community to implement these recommendations.”
Specific Recommendations: NTSB Nudges States and Organizations to take Action
To curtail the Top 10 Risks for a Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident, the NTSB also provides a corresponding 267 safety recommendations.
Some of these recommendations are addressed to various agencies and groups, while others are specific suggestions to lawmakers for new transportation safety laws.
For instance, to deal with deaths caused by speeding:
- The NTSB recommends Indiana pass a law allowing state and local agencies to use automated speed enforcement (H-17-032); and
- The NTSB asks that Illinois change its automated speed enforcement laws “to remove operational and location restrictions on the use of automated speed enforcement, except where such restrictions are necessary to align with best practices” (H-17-033).
Another example: to better protect school bus passengers, both Indiana and Illinois are asked to do the following:
- Enact legislation to require that all new large school buses be equipped with passenger lap/shoulder belts for all passenger seating positions in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222 (H-18-010).
For more on the dangers facing children in school bus accidents and the installation of school bus safety belts, read: “Three Indianapolis School Bus Crashes This Morning: Safety Issues for School Buses — Should There Be Seat Belts?”
Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Reducing Danger and Seeking Justice
From the perspective of representing accident victims and their families in the aftermath of a serious or fatal roadway accident – from motorcycle accidents, to pedestrian hit and runs, train crashes, and fatal truck crashes, bus crashes, and car wrecks – we understand the unacceptably high dangers facing anyone driving on the roads of Illinois and Indiana today.
We support all efforts to stop future deaths and crash fatalities in this country. The perils that we face, as well as our loved ones, as we go about our daily lives driving to work, home, school, or in travel are much too high.
It is important for everyone to understand the remedies that are available to those who are severely injured or killed in a transportation accident, as well.
While awareness campaigns and movements for legislative change are steps in the right direction, the cruel truth is our current reality puts every driver (as well as his or her passengers) at a shockingly high risk of becoming a victim of a deadly motor vehicle accident.
There are already laws in place in both Indiana and Illinois that work to provide justice for transportation accident victims. Reducing danger is vital; seeking justice is paramount. Please be careful out there!
