Florida Congressman Reviews Federal Efforts To Make Driving Safer

Press Release, Sep 07, 2006

Administrator of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Testifies

WASHINGTON, D.C. - "Traffic crashes kill over 43,000 Americans and injure over 2.6 million a year," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection Subcommittee. "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) is the federal agency charged with promoting automobile safety, and it sets corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFÉ) standards. I appreciate hearing the progress NHTSA has made in making the driving public safer and in promoting greater fuel efficiency."

The lone witness was NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason, who stated, "I believe that we are on the cusp of a new era in highway safety."  Nason thanked the Subcommittee for its role in writing the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, which is "tripling the amount of funding going to states to combat impaired driving, a scourge which claims nearly 17,000 people a year."

She also pointed to crash avoidance technologies as one of the most promising gains in highway safety. "Imagine a car with a forward-collision warning system that can detect when the vehicle in front of it has slowed or stopped.  This device can help prevent the most common type of crash, the rear-end collision. But the crash avoidance technology that I believe holds the greatest promise is electronic stability control. This proven technology senses when a driver may lose control and automatically stabilizes the vehicle."