2002-11-27 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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From: Swanson, Kathryn Sent: Monday, October 07, 2002 8:39 AM To: *AII Traffic Safety Cc: Smith, Dennis Subject: Dr. Runge At a meeting I attended on Saturday, Dr. Runge (head of NHTSA) spoke. Here are the highlights/sound bites from his message: . Traffic deaths in the US are the equivalent loss of a fully-loaded 737 every day, or a disaster like 9/11 every 5 weeks. . Economic Impact: $230 billion/year -- $820 for every taxpayer. . Impaired drivers -- and speeders and those not driving with respect for others __ are terrorists on our roadways. . Some say the "3 E's" are enforcement, engineering, and education __ he thinks they are enforcement, enforcement, enforcement. .~ . Motorcyclist fatalities are up nationwide for 4 years in a row. They don't yet have MC VMT (but it sounded like they were working on getting it), but he suspect MC VMT is rising faster than VMT for other vehicles. He says helmet use is 60% nationwide, and blames increase in fatalities on increased exposure, alcohol, and lack of helmets. . The only good news: child fatafities are down. Fatalities among kids under 5 dropped 8.5% -- and he credits the CPS programs and advocates (way to go, Patti!). . Alcohol: .08 is not a panacea. We need strict enforcement of scientifically sound laws; we need cops, courts (prosecutors and judges), and treatment to work together; N HTSA will continue to promote SFST and DRE . . Reauthorization: he urged cops to contact Congress ("cpps have cache __ use it to benefit the people of America"). People will be urging Congress to fund LRT and roads __ but we need to insist that Congress ~Iso funds- enforcement, because that is what will save lives. . NHTSA will propose a ~No-tiered grant program. the first tier will be formula-based (as 402 funds are done now). the second tier will be incentive based. States that can achieve three goals (90% belt use, .53 Alcohol-related fataiities per 100 million VMT, and 1.0 fatalities per 100 million VMT) wiil have access to funds on this tier. . There will be more belt mobilizations, and he wants an enforcement message for belt use. USA loses $26 biiiion for lack of belt use (note: I'm not sure this jives with his previous economic loss figure}. The medical costs from crashes is equal to the entire US DOT budget. . 2003 will be the Year of the Impaired Driver. On Sunday, Annette Sandberg (deputy administrator for NHTSA) spoke -_ nearly the -same message. Here are a few extra things she threw in: . For the $230 billion in economic loss, we can get a breakdown by state and by type of crash. . NHTSA will want to work booze and belts together -- urge officers making DWI stops to also enforce belt use, Another speaker (Dave Smith from FHWA) said that a video has been produced and sent to all law enforcement agencies with 10 or more officers. The video is "Safety Starts with Crash Data" and it emphasizes the importance of carefui and thorough crash investigation and reporting. I will give the copy J have to Marc -- we can can order more for our small agencies if we want. One final quotation - I don't have a name to attribute it to, but I thought it might be a useful angle for our belt use numbers: 'The progress we've made is significant. The progress we've made is weicome. But we are not done." . 1 (f.