The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its 2013 Most Wanted List, with six of the 10 issues focusing on highway travel, where most transportation fatalities take place and includes the number one killer on the list: substance-impaired driving.
The new annual list of the independent federal safety agency's top advocacy priorities calls for ending distraction in all modes of transportation. Distraction was the cause of multiple accidents investigated by the agency in recent years and its deadly effects will only continue to grow as a national safety threat.
"Transportation is safer than ever, but with 35,000 annual fatalities and hundreds of thousands of injuries, we can, and must, do better," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "The Most Wanted List is a roadmap to improving safety for all of our nation's travelers."
The list covers all transportation modes. There are six new issue areas: distraction, fire safety, infrastructure integrity, pipeline safety, positive train control and motor vehicle collision avoidance technologies.
The NTSB's 2013 Most Wanted List of transportation priorities includes:
- Preserve the Integrity of Transportation Infrastructure
- Implement Positive Train Control Systems
- Eliminate Substance-Impaired Driving
- Improve the Safety of Bus Operations
- Eliminate Distraction in Transportation
- Improve Fire Safety in Transportation
- Mandate Motor Vehicle Collision Avoidance Technologies