Each year a disproportionate share of the nation’s fatalities occur on local roads: almost three times as frequently as on the Interstate Highway System, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On July 13, 2015, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx signed a resolution reflecting the need to improve safety on county-owned roads and affirming that the U.S. Department of Transportation will work with the National Association of Counties (NACo) to improve road safety in America’s communities. According to Secretary Foxx,

Improving the safety and resiliency of our transportation infrastructure depends to a significant extent on the quality of county-owned roads.  Counties are responsible for building and maintaining not only a large number of transit systems, but also approximately 230,000 bridges, and 43 percent of our public roads.  Unfortunately, far too many deaths occur on such roads. Making safety improvements on county-owned roads is critical to the health and economy of our country, and reducing fatalities and serious injuries on all public roadways continues to be a national priority. 

In partnership with the Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety, NACo has released Local Road Safety: A Focus for County Elected Officials. This document highlights a number of resources and techniques that county leaders can use to improve safety on local roads. To read, click here.