Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/270259
CHANGING LANES ATA Applauds NTSB's Efforts on Highway Safety Following today's release of the National Transportation Safety Board's Most Wanted List of safety improvements, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves applauded the organization's commitment to safety. "We appreciate NTSB's persistence in addressing critical safety issues, especially those that affect the trucking industry's workplace, our highways," Graves said. "Chairwoman Deborah Hersman and the Board deserve credit for continuing the push to make our entire transportation system safer." NTSB's Most Wanted List is an important record of needed safety improvements, and this year includes three items of particular interest to the trucking industry: eliminating distraction, addressing substance-impaired driving and improving occupant protection and crashworthiness of vehicles. "In these areas, we agree," Graves said, "ATA has long been a proponent of reducing the risks of distracted driving, eliminating drunk or drugged driving by all motorists and improving the crashworthiness of vehicles. It makes good sense for NTSB to shine a light on these important issues." Michigan DOT's Kirk Steudle Tells Congress Investment in Autonomous Vehicle Research Will Lead to Improved Safety and Mobility Emerging technologies have the potential to significantly reduce vehicle crashes and associated fatalities, according to testimony today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation and the 2011 president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, today testified on Capitol Hill about the many ways autonomous vehicles will shape the future of surface transportation. The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit hearing explored the federal policies that may be necessary for the integration of autonomous vehicles into the nation's highway infrastructure system. "Nothing is more exciting than the potential safety benefits of this emerging technology," said Steudle. "In 2011, 5.3 million vehicle crashes in the U.S. resulted in 32,000 fatalities and more than 2.2 million injuries. The use of sensory and communications equipment to enable vehicles to speak to each other and the surrounding roadway infrastructure, has the potential to significantly reduce the 8 MARCH 2014 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM Capitol Hill Report capitol hill report 0314 cl.indd 1 2/6/14 1:32 PM