“It doesn’t look good, and I continue to be extremely concerned about the trend,” Buttigieg said in an interview ahead of the strategy’s release on Thursday.
To prioritize safety, Buttigieg said his department is embracing a new “safe system” approach urged by auto safety advocates to bolster initiatives already underway in several cities that seek to eliminate fatalities by taking into account the whole system rather than just driver behavior.
Citing his experience as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg said he envisions cities and states taking interim steps with federal support. He pointed to Hoboken, New Jersey, which has made roadway improvements such as curb extensions and retimed traffic signals to give pedestrians a head start in crosswalks.
It pledges a shift in approach on the state and local level in part with planned updates to the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which lays down the requirements for U.S. street markings and design. Among the possibilities is rethinking how speed limits are set. Currently, many cities set limits at whatever 85% of drivers are traveling, essentially letting drivers make the decision.
Traffic deaths began to spike in 2019, and the NHTSA blamed speeding and other reckless driving behavior for the increases during the coronavirus pandemic. Before then, the number of fatalities had fallen for three straight years.