AAA urges Trump Administration to focus on deteriorating roadways

Key roadway improvements have the potential to save 63,700 lives and prevent 353,560 serious injuries in the US over a 20-year period, according to a new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. With the US ranked nearly last among high-income nations in annual traffic fatalities, which continue to rise, AAA urges the Trump Administration to make repairing and maintaining America's roadways a top priority. With an investment of US$146 billion, the report recommends six cost-effective roadway impro
May 3, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Key roadway improvements have the potential to save 63,700 lives and prevent 353,560 serious injuries in the US over a 20-year period, according to a new report from the 477 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. With the US ranked nearly last among high-income nations in annual traffic fatalities, which continue to rise, AAA urges the Trump Administration to make repairing and maintaining America's roadways a top priority.


With an investment of US$146 billion, the report recommends six cost-effective roadway improvements which it says have the greatest potential to reduce both the likelihood and consequences of crashes.

These include converting key intersections into roundabouts; installing roadside barriers and clearing roadside objects; and adding sidewalks and signalised pedestrian crossing on majority of roads. Other measures include installation of median barriers on divided highways, shoulder and centre-line rumble strips and paving and widening shoulders.

The AAA claims current investments in highway infrastructure improvements in the US are substantially lower than what is necessary to fix the nation's aging roads and bridges. While it says the US$146B investment outlined in the report will have a significant national-level impact, it also claims increased investment is required at all levels of government to prevent an infrastructure crisis.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Sensys & Verizon partner on intersections
    June 6, 2018
    Sensys Networks is here at ITS America Detroit to highlight solutions to address intersection safety - 40% of crashes, 50% of serious collisions, and 20% of fatalities occur in intersections. Unfortunately, many cities currently rely solely on historical crash data, hardly a systematic way to analyse and manage potentially harmful traffic situations. To help increase intersection safety, Sensys Networks is automating accurate and actionable safety data, and teaming with Verizon to do so. SensTraffic, the
    Read More
  • Road safety - the challenge ahead
    April 25, 2012
    More than 1.3 million people die in road accidents each year. If nothing is done, this already chilling figure risks to rise to 1.9 million deaths per year. Around 90 per cent of road fatalities occur in emerging and developing countries. Here, the mixture of population growth and higher numbers of vehicles due to rising incomes are proving a deadly combination, as infrastructure and regulatory environment have difficulty keeping pace.
    Read More
  • Reducing climate impacts starts at the intersection, says Inrix
    September 11, 2023
    The tools to identify and reduce unnecessary delays at intersections are here – and traffic signal performance improvement is also eligible for US government funding, points out Rick Schuman of Inrix
    Read More
  • Active travel can't solve 'transport poverty', says Sustrans report
    September 26, 2024
    Millions who could benefit from cycling's health and economic effects are locked out
    Read More

Highlighted Content