Hudson, Cohen Relaunch Global Road Safety Caucus

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressmen Richard Hudson (NC-09) and Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced the official relaunch of the Congressional Global Road Safety Caucus. The Caucus will continue to bring awareness to road safety initiatives and mobilize Congressional support to tackle the significant domestic and global health and safety crisis. Congressmen Hudson and Cohen will serve as Co-Chairs.

"Inadequate policies and neglected transportation infrastructure too often lead to traffic accident injuries and deaths," said Rep. Hudson. "I am proud to join Congressman Cohen in relaunching the Global Road Safety Caucus and continuing our work to raise awareness on this critically important issue. As Co-Chair, I'm committed to promoting road safety practices to protect families in my district and around the nation."

“My district has the dubious distinction of having a high level of pedestrian fatalities and traffic deaths, so the need to focus on these issues is obvious," said Rep. Cohen, a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. "I am proud to join my friend Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina in relaunching the Global Road Safety Caucus and calling attention to the crisis of traffic accident injuries and deaths that are a leading cause of non-natural fatalities in the U.S. and around the world. As a leading proponent of the Complete Streets approach for improving road safety for all users, including bicyclists and pedestrians, I am very much aware of the serious problem with traffic deaths we are facing both domestically and abroad. This Caucus aims not just to call attention to the problems but to find and implement solutions.”

"I am proud to support the reinvigorated Global Road Safety Caucus and look forward to working together with its members to dramatically reduce the global toll of road crashes," said Rochelle Sobel, President of the Association for Safe International Road Travel.

Background

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road crashes claim the lives of 1.3 million people annually and are the leading cause of death for children and young adults ages 5-29 worldwide. In the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), road crashes are a leading cause of death for people aged 1-54, and they are the leading cause of non-natural death for U.S. citizens residing or traveling abroad.

In 2004, then-President Bush, in a speech to the World Health Day forum, declared "America's strong commitment to traffic safety and to the goal of saving more lives throughout the world." In response, the Congressional Caucus on Global Road Safety was formed to raise awareness of this issue and mobilize Congressional support to tackle this significant domestic and global health and safety crisis.

From 2004-2011, the Caucus, led by former Reps. Robert Wexler (D-FL), Steve LaTourette (R-OH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Dan Burton (R-IN), was successful in passing concurrent resolutions acknowledging the global road safety crisis, supporting the goals and ideals of a World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, and supporting the proclamation of the First Decade of Action for Road Safety. The Caucus also held Member and staff briefings with administration officials, international organizations, foreign governments and NGO leaders to discuss ways to combat and collaborate on this issue.

Officially designated as a global health issue by the WHO, global road safety spans a number of key domestic and foreign policy areas that are paramount to U.S. interests, including transportation and infrastructure initiatives that are top of mind for all of us. Global road safety also impacts the study abroad community, the U.S. military community at home and overseas, and broader foreign relations and diplomatic initiatives. While many policy areas are challenged by the impact of road crashes, these challenges also present a valuable opportunity for the U.S. to engage in a positive way in each of these areas and continue to be a catalyst for change at home and abroad.

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