Roadway Safety

Floor Speech

Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about roadway safety and infrastructure and the role it plays in saving lives and growing our economy.

Every year, approximately 34,000 men, women, and children die on our Nation's roadways. Although this number has decreased dramatically over recent years, we still have a long way to go.

One of the major factors in that decrease was a program this body created in the last transportation authorization bill called the Highway Safety Improvement Program. This commonsense program seeks to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries by making improvements to infrastructure such as road signs, guardrails, rumble strips, and other safety measures.

According to a study commissioned by the American Traffic Safety Services Association, for every $1 million invested in roadway safety, we save seven lives. Taking away the tragedy of all of those lost lives, that number, in terms of economic benefit, is $42 million saved by saving these lives--a 42 to 1 return on our money is pretty darn good.

I applaud Chairman Oberstar and Ranking Member Mica for including the Highway Safety Improvement Program in their current reauthorization draft. This program saves lives, puts people to work, and strengthens America's transportation system.

I urge my colleagues to work diligently to pass a new multiyear transportation bill.

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