Road to Zero Group Announces Eight Safety Grants
The Road to Zero Coalition on March 20 awarded grants to eight organizations that use innovative approaches to making roadways safer.
The Road to Zero initiative, a partnership with the National Safety Council, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, aims to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2050. This is the second round of the coalition’s Safe System Innovation grants.
Grant recipients
- America Walks
- Bicycle Colorado
- Center for Latino Progress
- City of Boston
- Lorain County (Ohio) Public Health
- National Opinion Research Center-University of Chicago
- Texas A&M with Houston Methodist Hospital
- University of Alabama-Birmingham with Safe Kids Worldwide
National Safety Council President Deborah Hersman announced the awardees, stressing their importance in light of the fact that 40,000 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year.
“We had an impressive pool of applicants, but the creativity and carefully considered strategies of the grant recipients set them apart,” Hersman said. “We look forward to working with them on our shared journey toward zero deaths.”
To qualify for a Safe System Innovation Grant, organizations must explain how their program will improve safety on roadways, establish evaluation metrics and outline efforts to reach target audiences.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration committed $3 million, in the form of $1 million annually from 2017-19, to fund the grant program.
National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman T. Bella Dinh-Zarr emphasized the importance of working with industry and government partners to reduce fatalities.
“At NTSB, every mode is important to us, but we never forget we lose the most lives on our roads,” Dinh-Zarr said. “The road to zero may sometimes seem like a long and tiring journey. Remember that all of us together are a powerful force.”
