The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has a plan for reducing the leading cause of work-related deaths in the U.S. – and it wants your input. The NIOSH Center for Motor Vehicle Safety Strategic Plan, 2020-2029 is intended to address risks faced by millions of workers who drive or ride in a motor vehicle as part of their jobs.

Data released last week by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed highway crash fatalities in the U.S. down 2.2 percent for the first 9 months of 2019 compared to the first 9 months of 2018. An estimated 26,730 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes through September 30, making the third quarter of 2019 the eighth consecutive year-to-year quarterly decline in fatalities since the fourth quarter of 2017.

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that 115 people may be killed on the roadways during the Christmas holiday driving period, and an additional 163 may be killed during the New Year’s holiday driving period. That number would likely be significantly higher if not for seat belts. This low-tech, highly effective motor vehicle safety feature is estimated to save 245 lives over the same driving periods.

Fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents on U.S. highways decreased by 2.4 percent last year, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It was the second consecutive year of reduced crash fatalities.

In an effort to enhance safety on the nation’s highways, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is providing $1.8 million in funding to non-governmental partner organizations who combat impaired driving and deal with other safety issues. "This funding will help NHTSA and our partners improve highway safety for all, and will provide critical leadership for reducing the incidence of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol," said James Owens, Acting Administrator of NHTSA.

Grade inflation in school makes it difficult to distinguish who is actually achieving in the classroom. The federal government’s vehicle safety rating system suffers the same problem. Today, 98 percent of all vehicles tested receive four or five stars for crashworthiness. Consumer advocates and safety experts say it’s time to raise the bar for the New Car Assessment Program, which hasn’t been updated in nearly 10 years.

Older workers (those ages 55 and older) bring extensive skills, knowledge, and experience built over the course of a lifespan. On the flip side, their driving may be affected by age-related physical and mental changes – many of them perfectly normal changes. Employers cannot avoid the issue of aging drivers because by the year 2020:

In Washington, D.C., a new Trump administration plan to relax safety rules for truck drivers has rekindled old heartaches for families across the country. On a sunny Labor Day morning in Oklahoma, Linda Wilburn’s younger son, 19-year-old Orbie, hopped into his 1994 red Camaro and headed east from Weatherford on Interstate 40. The college freshman, excited about his new rental house, needed to collect more stuff from his parent’s place, 10 miles away.

Driving is a grown-up activity that requires our full attention, yet a lot of people do it while doing…something else. While texting is the most alarming distraction – and the one that garners the most attention these days – it’s not the only activity that endangers motorists. Eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system and talking on the phone – even hands free – can all divert your attention away from the task of safe driving.