This letter will be sent to President Biden on January 20, 2021. As we receive more signatories we will resubmit the letter to show the support for the call of zero roadway fatalities. If you have any questions please email Heidi Simon at heidi.simon@nsc.org. To learn more, visit www.zerotrafficdeaths.org 

Dear President Biden,

Congratulations on your inauguration as the 46th President of the United States! You are taking office at a time in American history when our country is facing many challenges.

We are writing to bring your attention to one of the immense, but solvable, challenges facing the United States, and one with which you, sadly, have personal experience — roadway fatalities. Our country loses almost 40,000 community members each year as a result of crashes. You know all too well the pain and devastation that comes when someone is killed in a crash. These are not just numbers — each life is someone’s family, friend and neighbor.

We are asking that you commit to reduce roadway fatalities to zero by 2050. As a nation, it is time to take decisive and collective action to address roadway safety and save tens of thousands of lives and millions injured in preventable crashes.

For decades, we have known the solutions in this country, and watched other countries make incredible progress towards this goal, while we have lacked the leadership to make roadway safety a national priority in the United States. We look to you, as a leader with lived experience, to prioritize a goal of zero fatalities and advance accompanying policies across your administration. We encourage you to engage and lead on this topic globally, joining other nations as they share efforts in road safety.

We are committed to roadway safety and know what it takes to achieve zero deaths. It will take action at the local, state and federal levels. A commitment by you and your Administration to prioritize safety, including adopting the Safe System approach, will provide the leadership needed to save lives. By making a public commitment early in your Administration to end roadway fatalities by 2050, you will demonstrate the importance of safe mobility for all and set the tone at the Federal level to prioritize safety in planning and policy.

We look forward to working with you and your Administration to ensure people in this country can move about their communities safely.