Traffic safety coalition wants to eliminate fatalities

New Mexico drivers may be able to look forward to safer roads in the future if the efforts of a group called the Road to Zero Coalition are successful. This transportation safety coalition, which has 675 members, hopes to eliminate traffic deaths by 2050.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2016, the number of deaths increased to 37,461, a jump of 5.6 percent over the previous year after several years of decline. The coalition identified several initiatives to improve traffic safety. One of those is increasing seat belt use to 100 percent. Although it is already at 90 percent, half of the fatalities were not wearing seat belts.

The CEO of the National Safety Council says that autonomous vehicles will not be on the road for a while, but there can still be continued improvements in safety technology. The coalition is also pushing for better access to trauma centers for injured people. Around 43 percent of fatalities do not die at the scene of the accident, but it is difficult to get people in rural areas to a top trauma center in under an hour.

Finally, the coalition says there needs to be a cultural change that prioritizes safety. This includes issues such as distracted driving, speeding and driving under the influence.

If a family loses a loved one in a motor vehicle accident and the accident is the fault of another party, the family might be eligible for compensation. The family may want to talk to an attorney about how to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This could be particularly important if the decedent was the breadwinner.