Improving Road Safety with Retired NTSB Chairman, Robert Sumwalt

Global Road Safety

With highway fatalities up by 8% compared to the same period in a non pandemic time, whereas vehicle miles travelled has come down, here to discuss what we can be doing as individuals, as companies, as a society, to combat these alarming trends, is Robert Sumwalt, retired NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) Chairman.

“The NTSB is a federal agency charged by Congress to investigate transportation accidents, to determine the probable cause, and issue safety recommendations to keep those accidents and crashes from happening.”

How external influences, i.e. handheld mobile devices, PDAs etc are distracting drivers and causing crashes, what teen driver safety initiatives parents can implement to improve the chances of a teen driving safely, the noteworthy trends in road safety that are alarming Robert, his thoughts on driverless cars and why they will have a profound effect on improving safety and improving efficiency on the roadways, and his sobering words around the human toll from transportation accidents:

“Part of my responsibilities as chairman of the board, before we go into a board meeting to deliberate a particular accident or crash is to meet with family members within hours of the tragedy, their emotions still raw. And one thing that I take away is that life is so precious, and we see how easily it can be snuffed out.”

Don’t miss Robert Sumwalt on this episode of Global Road Safety.

On today’s podcast:

• The mission of the NTSB
• How human factors influence driving accidents
• Teen driver safety initiatives
• Why highway fatalities are up 8%
• Why driverless cars will improve safety
• The human toll of transportation accidents

Links:

• NTSB