American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials

Floor Speech

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 20, 2009)

SPEECH OF HON. ROBERT WEXLER OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

* Mr. WEXLER. Madam Speaker, as cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety, I would like to extend my appreciation and sincerest thanks to the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), who recently passed a policy resolution in support of House Concurrent Resolution 74, a resolution introduced by myself and my fellow Caucus cochairs, Congressman Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Dan Burton, supporting the goals and ideals of a decade of action for road safety with a global target to reduce by 50 percent the predicted increase in global road deaths between 2010 and 2020 and urging the Obama administration to take a leadership role at the First Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Moscow later this year.

* My fellow cochairs and I believe it is critical that the United States work with nations around the world to achieve the goals and ideals of a decade of action for road safety and to reduce the impact of this health epidemic on the global community, and I sincerely appreciate AASHTO's support for this resolution and for their efforts to work with the Global Road Safety Caucus to educate Members of Congress on the issue of road safety. To that end, I encourage all of my colleagues to review the text of AASHTO's resolution, which I am including in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.

POLICY RESOLUTION PR-2-09 SUPPORTING HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 74

Whereas, AASHTO and its members departments remain fully committed to reducing the number of deaths on our Nation's roads as evidenced by current AASHTO policy positions and efforts to implement AASHTO's Strategic Highway Safety Plan, including the adoption by the Board of Directors in December, 1997 and revised and updated in December, 2004, a goal to reduce fatalities by half in 20 years;

Whereas, According to the 2004 World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, 40,000 people on the United States and 1,300,000 people globally die in road crashes each year;

Whereas, Another 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 people globally are injured each year as a result of speeding motor vehicles and the increased use of motor vehicles;

Whereas, Road crashes are the leading cause of death globally for young people between the ages of 10 and 24 years;

Whereas, The current estimated monetary cost of motor vehicles crashes worldwide is greater than $500,000,000,000 annually, representing between 3 and 5 percent of the gross domestic product of each nation;

Whereas, According to the World Health Organization, over 90 percent of motorist-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries;

Whereas, According the World Health Organization, motorist related deaths and cost continue to rise in these countries due to a lack of appropriate road engineering and injury prevention programs in public health sectors;

Whereas, The United States, United Nations, and international community should promote the improvement of data collection and comparability, including adopting the standard definition of a road death as ``any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of a road traffic crash'' and the facilitation of international cooperation to develop reliable data systems and analytical capability;

Whereas, It is critical that the international community support collaborative action to enhance global road safety and reduce the risk of road crash death and injury around the world by fostering partnerships and cooperation between governments, private and public sectors, professional associations, and within civil society, as well as relationships among the Federal Highway Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other national and international road safety authorities;

Whereas, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2005 designating the third Sunday of November as a day of remembrance for road crash victims and their families and calling on nations globally to improve road safety;

Whereas, The United States Congress passed H. Con. Res. 87, as well as S. Con. Res. 39 in the 110th Congress supporting the goals and ideals of a world day of remembrance for road crash victims;

Whereas, The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2008 highlighting the impact global road safety issues, encouraging nations to take action to reduce road crash risks across the world and creating the first global high-level conference on road safety in Moscow in November 2009;

Whereas, The Ministerial Consultive Committee of the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety on Moscow has drafted a declaration to designate 2010-2020 as the ``Decade of Action for Global Road Safety''; now, therefore be it

Resolved, By the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials that AASHTO supports the goals and ideals of a decade of action for global road safety with a global target to reduce by 50 percent the predicted increase in global road deaths between 2010 and 2020; be it further

Resolved, AASHTO encourages international harmonization of road safety regulations and good practices through accession to and implementation of related United Nations legal instruments, resolutions, and manuals issued by the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration; and finally be it

Resolved, AASHTO encourages the United States to take a leadership role at the First Ministerial Conference on Road Safety and for the United States to work with nations around the world to achieve the goals and ideals of a decade of action for road safety and to reduce the impact of this health epidemic on the global community.

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