David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), said at a congressional hearing on June 26 that faster, more decisive action from America’s top vehicle safety regulator is needed to reverse a drastic escalation in fatal crashes on the nation’s roadways. The United States is in the middle of a road safety emergency, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “is failing to meet the moment,” Harkey said.

Beginning in the 1960s, NHTSA and its predecessor agencies spurred dramatic improvements in road safety by issuing safety standards, funding vital research, and supporting pilot projects to demonstrate the effectiveness of specific interventions, Harkey explained. For example, the requirement that all vehicles be equipped with frontal airbags is estimated to have saved 70,000 lives through 2019.

Now, though, the numbers are trending in the wrong direction. Annual crash deaths on U.S. roads have risen nearly 30% from below 33,000 in 2014 to more than 42,000 in 2022.

“NHTSA has an essential role to play in confronting our current road safety emergency, but doing so requires stronger leadership, a sense of urgency, and a greater willingness to act,” Harkey said.

He mentioned several specific measures the agency should take right away. Regulations requiring antilock braking systems for motorcycles, mandating technology to prevent impaired driving, and setting stringent requirements for safety features on semitrailers are all long overdue, he argued.

More active oversight from NHTSA is also needed on vehicle automation, where a regulatory gap has contributed to drivers’ confusion over the capabilities of technology in their vehicles.

Personally, I agree with everything Harkey said, and I would add several more things that NHTSA should consider, such as mandating the following requirements for all new vehicles sold in the U.S.:

¯ Equip them with daytime running lights (as Canada and the European Union did years ago).

¯ Require that full headlights activate when windshield wipers are in use.

¯ Equip all vehicles with automatic dimming of headlights for oncoming traffic and when following another vehicle.

¯ Equip them with Intelligent Speed Assist, which shows drivers what the speed limit is wherever they are at all times, and include an audible warning if they exceed the speed limit by more than 5 mph.

This would be a good start on controlling the escalation of crashes, including fatalities, on our highways.