| Introductory Letter |
| >
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related healthcare and other economic costs. NHTSA develops, promotes and implements effective education, engineering and enforcement programs toward ending preventable tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with vehicle use and highway travel.
Save Lives National Goal: Reduce alcohol-related highway deaths Nationally, we are continuing to make progress in the fight against impaired driving, having achieved record reductions over the past 10 years. Today, all states and the District of Columbia have zero tolerance and 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws that have saved more than 18,000 lives since 1975. Each year, nearly 1.5 million potential killers are taken off America’s highways by law enforcement agencies thanks to tougher laws and greater emphasis by community leaders and traffic safety advocates. While we are making gains in the fight against impaired driving, the reality is that we must do more as a nation to make substantial decreases in drinking and driving. The fact is that impaired driving is a violent crime that every year accounts for more than one third of all traffic fatalities. The greatest tragedy is that these crashes are predictable and preventable — these are not accidents. Our goal is to help states and communities put everyone on notice that impaired driving, like other criminal activity, will not be tolerated in America’s communities and to prevent these senseless crashes. |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |