An official website of the United States government.
Category: Safety Topics
Restraint Use Issues Report, 2011-2015 Data
The goal of this problem identification is to assure that the restraint enforcement program considered by the state throughout FY 2017 is completely evidence-based, the evidence being derived from past data obtained from crash records.
Motor Vehicle Occupant Protection – Youth Facts
Throughout the United States, many people and organizations are working to promote motor vehicle occupant protection for children, youth, and young adults. In spite of the great strides made in this country, every year, thousands of young people die or experience serious injuries that could have been prevented had they been properly restrained in child […]
Keeping Older Adults Driving Safely
Advanced in-vehicle technologies have been proposed as a potential way to keep older adults driving for as long as they can safely do so, by taking into account the common declines in functional abilities experienced by older adults. The purpose of this report was to synthesize the knowledge about older drivers and advanced in-vehicle technologies, […]
New Data Show Increase in Older Drivers on the Road
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published new data today that show a record-high 214.3 million licensed drivers in the U.S., including a 95.9 million aged 50 or older in 2014. This is an increase of 2.4 million over the previous ear. these new figures support U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s “Beyond […]
The Age of the Connected Car Will Bring New Safety, Comfort – and Threats
How do you reduce the number of highway accidents? Just tell all the cars to look out for each other. As far out as that may sound, that’s exactly what the National Transportation Safety Board recommended this week, following a fatal bus crash, and it’s part of a fundamental shift in the automotive world. Cars are […]
High in Cars: More High School Seniors Hit the Road After Smoking Pot
An estimated 28 percent of high school seniors reported riding in a car in the past two weeks with a driver who had used drugs or alcohol, or said they had driven after using drugs or alcohol themselves, researchers found. The confidential questionnaires did not ask seniors about the amount of marijuana smoked, or who […]
Who Will Driverless Cars Decide to Kill?
In philosophy, there’s an ethical question called the trolley problem. If you had to push one large person in front of a moving trolley to save a group of people on the tracks, would you? This abstract idea has taken hold in programming self-driving cars: what happens if it’s impossible to avoid everyone? Researchers from […]
Truck Companies Press for Automatic Braking
The American Trucking Association (ATA) is pushing for federal regulators to require the installation of automatic emergency braking systems on U.S. cars and trucks. The group, which lobbies for truck companies, said the automated braking systems would reduce the potential for accidents on the nation’s roads and highways. “In our role as a safety leader, […]
NHTSA and Ad Council Launch First-Ever Public Service Campaign Targeting Underage Drinking and Driving
Nearly one-third of young drivers killed in traffic crashes have alcohol in their system; new PSA depict drinking and driving as the ultimate party foul. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens in America, and almost half of teens killed in crashes are the drivers themselves. Despite a minimum legal drinking […]