It was puzzling to me how very challenging it is to advance safety measures to save lives. Then I realized that there is a MISSING PIECE of the PUZZLE: there is no National Roadway Safety Advocate at the US Department of Transportation.
Then make a comment online to Secretary Sean Duffy (at USDOT). Let him know that you want him to put a person to work as soon as possible who will be a dedicated resource to victims and their families – a National Roadway Safety Advocate.
Submit your Public Commenthere no later than August 20, 2025.
When it comes to changes needed to make our roads safer, who cares more deeply than crash survivors or victim families? The Department of Transportation is asking for the public to submit their comments on what should be included in the 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill; Secretary Duffy is looking for ideas to make our roads safer.
Let him know that you want victims to have a voice within the Department and that a means to do so has already been proposed by Senator Lujan and Congressman Cohen. The DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act would create a National Roadway Safety Advocate to serve as a voice for victims and survivors of roadway crashes and their families — ensuring their perspectives are considered in transportation safety policies.
I know from twelve years of road safety advocacy that this resource is extremely important but is not currently available to assist those who are keenly motivated to bring about change. Let Secretary Duffy know that you want him to put that plan into place.
Submit your Public Commenthere no later than August 20, 2025.
There are too many families like the ones who have told their stories below. They need to be heard. . .
I’m grateful for everyone who takes the time to submit a comment. You can see all comments submitted here. Running list of comments requesting a National Roadway Safety Advocate are here.
Quotes from supporters are availablehere (a list of safety groups and victim/survivors quoted in Senator Lujan & Congressman Cohen press release upon bicameral introduction of the DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act).
Senator Lujan and Congressman Cohen recently re-introduced the DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act. Much appreciated. But will Congress and the Department of Transportation respond by establishing this vital position within the Office of the Secretary? Is Secretary Duffy truly dedicated to safety?
On average, 42,075 people die on our roads every year, while 170,280 people are injured. Industry opposition. Regulatory capture. A lack of a sense of urgency or personal responsibility. These and other factors occur simultaneously — resulting in Too Little being done Too Late to prevent an unimaginable number of irreversible tragedies for those people and their loved ones.
It’s time to give vulnerable victims of vehicle violence a vigilant voice at the table. It’s time for a National Roadway Safety Advocate to serve the public’s best interests at the Department of Transportation. That’s why Senator Ben Ray Lujan (on May 9, 2024), and Congressman Steve Cohen (on May 10, 2024) introduced the DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act of 2024 — as a first step to provide safety advocates with a tangible means of bringing about meaningful change in a timely manner.
Reach out to your Members of Congress, using their online contact forms. Ask them to cosponsor and pass this bill: U.S. Senators – This link provides contact information for your U.S. Senators. U.S. Representatives – This link provides website and contact information for your Representative. Find your Representative by zip here.
All road users are vulnerable to deadly collisions with large trucks. Truck underride guards can reduce the severity of injuries which occur when a passenger vehicle, pedestrian, bicyclist, or motorcyclist goes under a truck.
Advocate efforts to bring about federal underride regulations have been blocked for decades. Recent testimony from a whistleblower revealed that senior agency officials suppressed vital research — hiding the fact that side underride guards would be cost-effective. Key documents are provided here:
A slide presentation by Mr. Kwan to safety advocates and researchers on April 22, 2024, explaining the suppressed research — pdf and video;
Exhibit A — the Statement of Work for contract number SA9PAI. FMCSA contracted with the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center for these deliverables to fulfill the research project entitled, Truck Side Guards to Reduce Vulnerable Road User Fatalities;
Exhibit B — The Suppressed Research – Truck Side Guards and Skirts to Reduce Vulnerable Road User Fatalities: Final Report on Net Benefits and Recommendations, the final report received from the Volpe Center, meeting all the requirements of the Statement of Work. Among other things, this final report found that it was cost effective to require tractor-trailers and single-unit trucks to be equipped with lifesaving side impact guards. The cost-benefit analysis and most of the rest of this final report were suppressed from the published report by U.S. DOT; and
Exhibit C — email communications obtained through the Freedom of Information Act which document that meetings and discussions concerning the Volpe Center report occurred among senior officials at DOT, NHTSA, and FMCSA in 2019 and 2020 without Mr. Kwan’s participation.
Letter from safety advocates, researchers, and others to the Department of Transportation Inspector General.
If this suppression of research goes unchecked, people will continue to be killed senselessly from preventable Death By Underride. Tell President Biden to take immediate action in order to undo the damage done by this misrepresentation of the costs and benefits of truck underride protection:
Direct the Secretary of Transportation to withdraw the erroneous Side Impact Guard rulemaking and then do it right in a new one by counting all preventable deaths as a benefit to society;
Appoint a Presidential Advisory Committee on Integrity of Underride Research to review and ensure the scientific integrity of all underride-related research and rulemaking; and
Establish the Office of National Roadway Safety Advocate in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation proposed by members of Congress.
Amend the July 2022 Rear Impact Guard Rule – bring it up to the TOUGHGUARD strength, as directed by Congress (Appropriations).
Can we expect the Department to adhere to its scientific integrity policy published in January 2024, or is it simply meaningless rhetoric?
Require that agency officials, including public affairs officers, shall neither ask nor direct nor suggest that agency scientists and technology experts alter the presentation of their scientific findings in a manner that may compromise the objectivity or accurate representation of those findings.Scientific Integrity Policy of the United States Department of Transportation, p.11
Can we count on them to mend the broken trust and act with a sense of urgency to fulfill their mission to reduce roadway deaths and injuries?
