Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America's roads safer.

Advocates encourages the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that save lives and reduce injuries. By joining its resources with others, Advocates helps build coalitions to increase participation of a wide array of groups in public policy initiatives which advance highway and auto safety.
 

May 15, 2013
U.S. DOT allowing unsafe Mexico-domiciled truck companies to participate in NAFTA pilot program threatening safety of motorists. The U.S. DOT must take swift action to prevent unsafe motor carriers from crossing the border.
Please click here for the full press release.
May 10, 2013
Advocates urges Members of Congress to support passage of lifesaving truck safety legislation, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act (S. 880/H.R. 1906). If enacted, this legislation will prevent constant increases in truck size and weights on Interstate highways and the National Highway System that endanger the motoring public and damage our roads and bridges.
Please click here for the full statement of Henry Jasny.
April 25, 2013
Report issued by Governors Highway Safety Association shows approximate 9% increase in traffic fatalities of motorcyclists for 2012 compared to 2011. This dramatic increase in motorcyclist deaths shows that efforts to reduce motorcycle crashes through education and voluntary programs have failed. Governors and state legislatures must act now to pass life-saving all-rider helmet laws.
Please click here for the full statement of Henry Jasny.
April 11, 2013
Families of Children Killed in Car Backover Incidents and Safety Groups Urge Obama Administration to Take Action on Rearview Cameras in Cars
Please click here for the press release and here for the full press kit.
April 9, 2013

MEDIA ADVISORY: FAMILIES OF CHILDREN KILLED IN CAR BACKOVER INCIDENTS AND SAFETY GROUPS PLEAD FOR OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO TAKE LIFESAVING ACTION

A press event will be held on Thursday, April 11th at 1 p.m. EDT to demand the Obama Administration issue a final rear visibility rule from the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act. This event will feature U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY) and Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), along with safety advocates and families of children affected by backover crashes.

Please click here for the full media advisory.
March 21, 2013
Advocates commends leaders in the Senate and House for passing a Continuing Resolution which restores funding to lifesaving highway safety grant programs.
Please click here for the full statement from Jackie Gillan.
March 12, 2013
Senate restores funding to highway safety grant programs in their version of the Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2013. Funding for these programs is critical as recent figures show a 7 percent increase in overall traffic fatalities.
Please click here for the full statement from Jackie Gillan.
March 4, 2013
Traffic safety groups urge Congress to fully fund the Priority Highway Safety Grant Program (Section 405) in Fiscal Year 2013. With preliminary figures showing an increase in traffic fatalities, these critical programs are needed now more than ever.
Please click here to see the letter.
February 26, 2013
New report by the Governors Highway Safety Association shows 19% increase in traffic fatalities of 16- and 17-year-old drivers, based on preliminary data for the first six months of 2012.
This dramatic increase in teen driving deaths is a clear call for action in state legislatures to pass laws that protect inexperienced novice teen drivers and prevent crashes.
Please click here for the full statement of Jackie Gillan on the report.
February 15, 2013
Recent deadly motorcoach crashes draw public attention to dangerous lack of safety protections for passengers
 
In the past few months, there have been several major bus crashes that have once again highlighted the dangerous lack of basic safety protections for the almost 700 million passengers that use this form of transportation each year. Since December, there have been four motorcoach crashes that have killed 18 people and injured more than 100 others.

These recent crashes have drawn the focus of the media and the public to the dangerous and all-to-deadly consequences of lapses in occupant protection and operational safety. CBS This Morning aired a segment on February 15th in response to a deadly crash in the San Bernadino Mountains of Southern California that can be viewed here.
January 15, 2013

 

ADVOCATES RELEASES 2013 ROADMAP OF STATE HIGHWAY SAFETY LAWS:
Tenth Annual Roadmap Report Grades States on Highway Safety Laws
As Crash Deaths Show Increase in 2012
 
Missed the release? Watch the webcast here.

  

For the press release, click here and for the full press kit click here. To access the full report, please click here.

 
January 7, 2013

 MEDIA ADVISORY


New Report Grades States on Highway Safety Laws
10th Annual Roadmap Report Highlights New Federal Funds for States that Take Action on Safety Initiatives 
 
WHAT:           NEWS CONFERENCE – Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) will release its tenth annual report card grading all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their performance in adopting 15 basic highway safety laws on adult and child occupant protection, impaired and distracted driving, and teen driving. This year’s report focuses on the new incentive grant programs created in July, 2012, under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, MAP-21, (Pub. L. 112-141) to encourage state enactment of teen driver licensing laws, all-offender ignition interlock laws, distracted driving laws and occupant protection programs. Recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show a dramatic reversal of previous declines in crash deaths, projecting a 7.1 percent increase of deaths in the first 9 months of 2012, compared to the first 9 months of 2011.
 
The 2013 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws report will feature the best and worst performing states, states making the most and least progress over the past year, dangerous loopholes in each state that contribute to preventable death and injury, and state-specific data on traffic deaths, injuries and related economic losses. 
 
WHEN:          Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 10 a.m. EST
 
WHERE:        National Press Club, Zenger Room, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC
 
WHO:             Jacqueline S. Gillan, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
 
Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association
 
Sherry Chapman, Coventry, CT, Chapman's 19-year-old son Ryan was killed in December 2002 when the car in which he was riding as a passenger crashed. Chapman has become a tireless advocate for teen driving safety and is co-founder and president of Mourning Parents Act, Inc. (!MPACT).
 
Major Mark Savage, Colorado State Patrol, and President, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)
 
Jan Withers, President, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
 
LIVE WEBCAST of the news conference at http://www.visualwebcaster.com/highwaysafetylaws.  
 
Please click here for the full media advisory.

 
November 6, 2012
Advocates to co-host webinar on "Teen Traffic Safety and the Highway Bill: Overview, Updates and Next Steps"  on Tuesday, November 27 at 2:00pm EST.
Please click here to watch the full webinar or here for the PDF of the slides.
October 24, 2012
Advocates honored with National Safety Council's 4th Annual Teen Driving Safety Leadership Award for exceptional contributions to preventing car crashes, injuries and deaths involving teen drivers.
Please click here for the full statement.
September 26, 2012
Statement of Jackie Gillan, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, on 9% increase in traffic fatalities in first half of 2012.
Please click here for the full statement.
September 12, 2012
Statement of Jackie Gillan, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, urging Congress to fund bipartisan transportation safety improvements which will result in safer drivers, safer motorcoaches, safer trucks and safer roads.
Please click here for the full statement.
July 8, 2012
Advocates' President Jackie Gillan speaks alongside Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and motorcoach safety advocate John Betts to applaud new occupant protection legislation passed in the transportation reauthorization bill.
Please click here for the full article.

                          

June 29, 2012
The Senate and House pass multi-year, multi-billion dollar surface transportation authorization bill that contains important safety advances. These safety provisions will prevent crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and save taxpayer dollars.
Please click here for the full statement.
June 19, 2012
Jane Mathis and Jim Portell share their story of personal loss in preventable highway crashes with the Orlando Sentinel and urge passage of the important safety provisions in Senate Bill 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).
Please click here for the letter to the editor.
June 10, 2012
Brad Brown, co-founder of the West Brook Bus Crash Families group and advocate for motorcoach safety legislation, published in the Washington Post to highlight the importance of the bus safety provisions in the surface transportation reauthorization bill.
Please click here for the letter.
June 10, 2012
Advocates' Consumer Co-Chair Joan Claybrook receives Global Award for pioneer work establishing New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) in late 1970s.
Please click here for the release.
Please click here for Joan Claybrook's remarks.
Please click here for Joan Claybrook's NCAP presentation.
May 31, 2012
Representative Tim Bishop (D-NY) "Highway Bill Must Make Roads Safer in Addition to Creating Jobs." Congressman speaks at Advocates’ press conference and announces his work to include a strong safety agenda in the final Surface Transportation Reauthorization conference committee report.
Please click here for the full statement.
May 31, 2012
Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) releases statement following his participation in Advocates’ press conference reiterating the importance of retaining truck safety provisions in the final Surface Transportation Reauthorization conference committee report.
Please click here for the full statement.
May 31, 2012
Senator John Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation applauds the work of parents, safety advocates, and pediatricians in voicing their support for safety improvements that are essential to this legislation.
Please click here for the full statement.
May 31, 2012
Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) urges colleagues negotiating the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill to retain the bipartisan Senate passed safety provisions in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Calls for bipartisan support of the teen driving  issues, particularly the incentive grant program to encourage state adoption of comprehensive teen driving laws.
Please click here for the full statement.
May 31, 2012
Advocates' joins victims, pediatricians, insurance companies, and members of the United States House of Representatives to urge that Congress keep the safety advances included in the Senate version of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill, MAP-21.
Please click here for the press release. Click here to learn more about the important safety provisions at stake. For the full press kit, including speaker statements, click here.
May 22, 2012
Advocates' President Jackie Gillan's letter to the Editor published in the New York Times calling for the use of electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) to address fatigue and hours of service violations in the trucking industry.
Please click here for the letter. Please click here for the related article on the dangers of trucking in the oil industry.

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