On May 15, the American Traffic Safety Services Association’s President & CEO Roger Wentz spoke at a press conference hosted by the Highway Materials Group in support of increased investment in roadway safety infrastructure.
The press conference was held as part of the sixth annual Infrastructure Week 2018 — May 14-21 — which promotes national awareness and advocacy for prioritizing investment in America’s infrastructure.
Members of Congress and ten other national transportation construction associations joined HMG and ATSSA to participate in the press conference, to discuss infrastructure investment cross the nation. Wentz focused his remarks on the safety element of roadway infrastructure.
“The number of people who die on our roadways annually is equal to about 74 fully loaded Boeing 747s crashing and resulting in the death of every single passenger,” said Wentz.
During his remarks, Wentz spoke on the safety aspects of investing in surface transportation infrastructure projects, and how those investments will save lives.
“We know that investing in America’s roads and bridges — specifically infrastructure safety projects — will save lives and reduce serious injuries. Our goal is to move Toward Zero Deaths, a point in time when any one single fatality on our roadways would draw national attention, because it would become a rare rather than common event. And if you think that zero cannot be accomplished, then ask yourself what member of your family might not return home safely tonight,” said Wentz.
The overall goal of Infrastructure Week is to urge policymakers to lead on investing in transportation projects and advocating for federal infrastructure funding in Washington, D.C. For ATSSA an added goal is to advocate for long-term solvency for the Highway Trust Fund.
“We call on Congress and the administration to significantly increase federal investments in road and bridge projects, to make the Highway Trust Fund solvent, and to ensure that safety infrastructure plays a central role. And, we ask that a mere ten cents on the dollar be dedicated to safety to make sure that we and our families all come home safely each night,” said Wentz, referring to ATSSA’s request that 10% of all federal road and bridge funding goes to safety infrastructure projects.
