U.S. DOT is committed to the ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities and has adopted the Safe System Approach to help address the crisis on our roadways. The Safe System Approach is the guiding paradigm of the National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), and we are dedicated to implementing the actions outlined in the NRSS to move us closer to our zero deaths goal.

NRSS Action Tracking Dashboard

Explore the NRSS dashboard to follow the progress of key Departmental actions to advance the National Roadway Safety Strategy.

https://explore.dot.gov

Why Is This a Crisis?

Over many decades, the United States has experienced reductions in roadway fatalities through successful interventions like the widespread use of seat belts and air bags in motor vehicles, effective State laws such as a 0.08 or lower blood alcohol concentration limit to reduce impaired driving, and consistent improvement of roadway design and traffic operation practices.

Roadway fatalities declined consistently for 30 years, but progress stalled over the last decade and is moving in the wrong direction. In 2021, an estimated 42,915 lives were lost on U.S. roads, and early estimates for 2022 show similar numbers of people dying on our roadways.

What Is U.S. DOT Doing about Roadway Fatalities?

In response to this crisis, U.S. DOT adopted a Safe System Approach as the guiding paradigm to address roadway safety. The Safe System Approach holistically builds and reinforces multiple layers of protection to both prevent crashes from happening in the first place, and minimize the harm caused to those involved when crashes do occur.

Safe System Approach

The National Roadway Safety Strategy is arranged around five complementary objectives corresponding to the Safe System Approach elements:

Driver point of view, stopping for a person walking a bike across a road at a crosswalk.

Safer People

Encourage safe, responsible driving and behavior by people who use our roads and create conditions that prioritize their ability to reach their destination unharmed.

A street with a raised median and a marked crosswalk at a roundabout with yield signs and a school bus stopped for boarding passengers at the opposite entrance of the roundabout.

Safer Roads

Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes and account for injury tolerances, to encourage safer behaviors, and to facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.

Two people stand examining a new vehicle on the showroom floor of a car dealership.

Safer Vehicles

Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help to prevent crashes and minimize the impact of crashes on both occupants and non-occupants.

School Zone sign: Speed Limit 20 when flashing.

Safer Speeds

Promote safer speeds in all roadway environments through a combination of thoughtful, equitable, context-appropriate roadway design, appropriate speed-limit setting, targeted education, outreach campaigns, and enforcement.

A fire truck and ambulance with EMS crews respond at the scene of a car crash.

Post-Crash Care

Enhance the survivability of crashes through expedient access to emergency medical care, while creating a safe working environment for vital first responders and preventing secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices.

The Safe System Approach is based on five elements—Safer People, Safer Roads, Safer Vehicles, Safer Speeds, and Post-Crash Care—and differs significantly from a conventional safety approach in that it acknowledges both human mistakes and human vulnerability and designs a redundant system to protect everyone.

This is a circular diagram about the Safe System Approach. On the circumference is a band with six safe system principles: Death and serious injuries are unacceptable, humans make mistakes, humans are vulnerable, responsibility is shared, safety is proactive, and redundancy is crucial. Inside this, the circle is divided into five sections with logos representing each section: Safer vehicles, safer speeds, safer roads, post-crash care, and safer people.

We are committed to turning around the trend in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways. The NRSS articulates new priority actions that target our most significant and urgent problems and are, therefore, expected to have the most substantial impact. It also focuses on notable changes to existing practices and approaches.

Explore the NRSS dashboard and read the 2023 NRSS Progress Report to follow the progress of key Departmental actions to advance the National Roadway Safety Strategy.

2023 Progress Report on the National Roadway Safety Strategy

2023-Progress-Report-National-Roadway-Safety-Strategy.pdf

The National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) was first released in January 2022.

The 2023 National Roadway Safety Strategy Progress Report provides a concise one-year update on USDOT’s efforts to address serious and fatal injuries on our roadways, details our accomplishments related to addressing the NRSS actions in 2022, and identifies USDOT’s new commitments to actions under the NRSS in 2023 and beyond.

Through the NRSS, the U.S. Department of Transportation committed to take urgent action to save lives on our roadways, and we will continue to work across the Department to achieve that goal.

Read the 2023 National Roadway Safety Strategy Progress Report.

National Roadway Safety Strategy

The United States Department of Transportation National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) outlines the Department’s comprehensive approach to significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on our Nation’s highways, roads, and streets. This is the first step in working toward an ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities. Safety is U.S. DOT’s top priority, and the NRSS represents a Department-wide approach to working with stakeholders across the country to achieve this goal.

Read the National Roadway Safety Strategy.

Last updated: Thursday, February 2, 2023