November 3, 2009
Contact: Meg Mincolla
Phone: (775) 888-7172
Nevada Named National Transportation Safety Leader
Following declining traffic fatalities, Nevada has received a national traffic safety award, the Nevada Departments of Transportation and Public Safety and other partners announced.
• The Nevada Strategic Highway Safety Plan, developed by Nevada traffic and safety agencies, outlines how to reduce traffic fatalities. Since the Safety Plan’s inception in 2006, Nevada traffic deaths have decreased by nearly one quarter, from 431 in 2006 to 324 in 2008.
• Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) road safety audits enhance state roadways with low-cost road safety improvements recommended by expert safety and engineering audit teams.
• Numerous NDOT road safety improvements, including over 1,300 miles of centerline rumble strips, 30 miles of cable median barrier, an upcoming northeastern Nevada safety overpass to reduce vehicle-animal collisions and over 75,000 NDOT man hours dedicated in the past two years to flattening slopes to reduce severity of roadside crashes.
• Led by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Nevada’s first pedestrian safety action plan also seeks to reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities including a one-mile Las Vegas pedestrian corridor.
• New GIS capabilities give increased ability to pinpoint high-crash locations and share crash data.
• Nevada agencies and organizations are active national traffic safety leaders, with representatives co-chairing the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highway Safety and providing leadership on the AASHTO Standing Committee on Traffic, as well as the Federal Highway Administration’s SafetyAnalyst Technical Working Group study, Governors Highway Safety Association, Motorcycle Safety Foundation, Safe Kids Worldwide and others.
“There are individuals and groups across the state who work tirelessly to save lives on Nevada roads,” NDOT Director Susan Martinovich said. “With Governor Gibbons’ support, Nevada’s traffic and safety agencies have also made major traffic safety improvements. This award is a recognition of how each of those groups work so well together to reach one common goal.”
“It is about saving lives, and it ultimately comes down to the decision of every motorist to drive safely for themselves, and for others,” Martinovich added.
Drivers can log on to www.nevadadot.com/safety and www.drivesafenv.com for safe driving information.
