Bob Kerrey: “I recently introduced the Highway Safety Priority Act which proposed to make safety a primary consideration in highway…”

“I recently introduced the Highway Safety Priority Act which proposed to make safety a primary consideration in highway investments. Traffic accidents are part of a national health epidemic responsible for the loss of 1.2 million preretirement years of life a year; more than is lost to cancer or heart disease. It is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24. Last year, more than 41,900 Americans died from this epidemic and more than 3 million suffered serious injury. In Nebraska traffic accidents claimed 293 lives in 1996 up from 254 the year before. Most tragic, is the fact that this epidemic is almost 100 percent preventable. To address this problem, the Congress must focus resources where they will do the most good. Throughout America there are two lane, two way roads which expose drivers to an unacceptably high level of risk. These high risk 'killer roads' suffer from poor engineering, poor pavement, narrow shoulders and increasing levels of traffic. Because these roads are often in rural areas, feeding into the larger arteries, they are frequently overlooked by State and local roads departments in favor of the larger more modern and inherently safe portions of the National Highway System. If we are to be serious about reducing death and accidents on America's roads, we need to pay greater attention to the roads which feed into the National Highway System.”