Gov. Edwards, DOTD Discuss the State’s Updated Strategic Highway Safety Plan

Baton Rouge, La. – At present, Governor John Bel Edwards was joined by Louisiana Division of Transportation and Improvement Secretary Shawn D. Wilson to debate the Division’s up to date Strategic Freeway Security Plan (SHSP).

The SHSP, which is up to date each 5 years, identifies emphasis areas, methods and ways for decreasing fatalities and critical accidents on all public roads throughout the state. That is developed with enter from driver habits security consultants, engineers, legislation enforcement personnel, emergency service suppliers and advocacy teams and is applied is thru ongoing actions by a wide range of stakeholders and state businesses.

Preliminary knowledge reveals 971 individuals misplaced their lives on account of a motorcar crash within the state final 12 months. It is a 17% improve from 2020, the place there have been 828 fatalities. The state has skilled this highest share improve in a single 12 months since crash fatality information have been saved.

“The statistics are alarming,” stated Gov. Edwards. “The lack of practically 1,000 motorists on our roadways is devastating and a quantity that desperately must lower and be non-existent at some point. With the security methods applied by our businesses and security companions, we intention to make all Louisiana public roads safer—the place nobody is killed or significantly injured in traffic-related crashes.”

“The security of our roadways and our motorists is of the utmost significance of this Division and this Security Plan gives quantitative knowledge for methods on bettering the security circumstances all through the state,” stated Wilson. “With the assist of the Governor and our companions on the federal, state, and native ranges, we proceed to work in direction of eliminating traffic-related deaths and accidents.  One loss of life is one too many and it’s our objective to scale back the variety of crashes and extreme accidents by 50% by 2030.”

“When poor choices are made whereas driving or driving in a motorcar, the results might be far-reaching. A single dangerous resolution by one particular person could cause a devastating ripple impact of ache and struggling all through a whole group of household, pals, and family members. Louisiana State Police works intently with our public security companions to extend enforcement and supply public security schooling; nonetheless, we’d like each motorist to accomplice with us. This implies avoiding distractions whereas driving, sustaining a protected velocity, making certain each passenger is correctly restrained, and by no means driving whereas impaired. Collectively we will make a distinction and save lives,” stated Colonel Lamar Davis, Louisiana State Police Superintendent.

“The rise in dangerous driving habits, which we now have seen in Louisiana and all through the nation, is as a lot a public well being epidemic as every other group disaster,” stated Louisiana Freeway Security Fee Govt Director Lisa Freeman. “The inherent tragedy of visitors fatalities is that they’re preventable.  Unsafe driving habits doesn’t simply occur.  It’s a alternative—a alternative between driving sober or driving impaired; a alternative between driving centered or driving distracted; a alternative of buckling up and driving the velocity restrict or being unrestrained and dashing.  We urge everybody to make the fitting alternative—the one alternative that provides us an opportunity at safely arriving at our locations.”

Based mostly on knowledge for contributing components related to fatalities and accidents, the emphasis areas for the up to date plan, which deal with older and youthful drivers inside every space, are distracted driving, impaired driving, occupant safety and infrastructure and operations, which incorporates roadway/lane departure, intersections, and non-motorized customers.

Methods for every of those areas shall be applied by knowledge that identifies potential behavioral and/or infrastructure points utilizing insurance policies, applications and tasks to positively impression the quantity and severity of crashes and goal options to the suitable geography and demographic.

A few of these methods embrace:

• Growing schooling efforts and group outreach applications statewide and at native degree
• Strengthen legal guidelines and public insurance policies to ban dangerous behaviors corresponding to distracted driving
• Enhance accountability by enforcement or different strategies
• Determine, develop and deploy engineering options alongside corridors discovered to expertise extreme crashes associated to dangerous driving behaviors corresponding to impaired driving or distracted driving
• Enhance variety of little one passenger security and CarFit technicians within the state and unfold consciousness to native communities