Statement by IIHS-HLDI President Harkey on Road to Zero Coalition report

ARLINGTON, Va., April 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 650 organizations are collaborating on a comprehensive plan to eliminate road deaths by 2050. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute, which are participating in the coalition, issued the following statement from President David Harkey:

"The Road to Zero Coalition report is a significant first step. It recognizes that progress toward zero deaths will require us to double down on policies already proven to reduce crashes. We do not need to wait for the unproven safety promise of autonomous vehicles. Many of the tools that can bring down traffic deaths dramatically are already in our hands. Countermeasures like strong safety belt laws, photo enforcement, roundabouts and sobriety checkpoints are effective, but they are not always widely or consistently deployed. At the same time, some policymakers are turning back the clock by rescinding effective safety programs and by enacting ever-higher speed limits.

"Progress will also require continued vehicle safety improvements, especially using technology. We need to accelerate the adoption of advanced driver assistance technologies shown to prevent crashes. If we implemented everything we know about saving lives today, the Road to Zero would be a lot shorter."

For more information, go to iihs.org

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses ? deaths, injuries and property damage ? from motor vehicle crashes. The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shares and supports this mission through scientific studies of insurance data representing the human and economic losses resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehicles and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make and model. Both organizations are wholly supported by auto insurers.

SOURCE Insurance Institute for Highway Safety