ATSSA Signal July/August 2019

The Signal | July/August 2019 15 Government Relations Roadway safety infrastructure improvements that contribute to this figure include median barrier, signalized pedestrian crossings, and shoulder and centerline rumble strips.* A Price Society Can Afford Investing $146 billion in cost-effective roadway safety infrastructure improvements REDUCES ROADWAY ACCIDENTS OVER A 20 YEAR PERIOD Saving 63,700 lives Preventing 353,560 serious injuries *“Safety Benefits of Highway Infrastructure Investments”, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety “Congress and the White House must ro- bustly invest in our nation’s infrastructure network. Investing in America’s infrastruc- ture is critical to the safety of the travel- ingpublic. More than 37,000 people were killed on U.S. roadways in 2017, which is roughly the equivalent to 75 fully- loaded Boeing 747s crashing to the ground each year. Although we have made great strides over the last two decades in reducing fatalities, there is a lot more work to be done,” said Wentz. “We call on Congress to aggressively combat roadway fatalities and serious injuries through investing in a roadway safety-focused infrastructure package which is paid for by increasing user fees. We are asking road users to pay a little more so that we can save lives in every community and congressional district. Investing in America’s infrastructure is good economics, good politics andmost importantly, good for safety.” For more information on Infrastructure Week, visit infrastructureweek.org.