NHTSA'S FY 1996 BUDGET EMPHASIZES SAFETY

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for Americans 6 through 28 and are the leading cause of injury. The resulting direct cost to society is enormous, reaching almost $138 billion in 1990 alone. These crashes add over $14 billion to the nation's health care expenditures. While progress clearly has been made, traffic safety involves persistent problems that need to be addressed at the Federal, State, and community levels because motor vehicle injuries are largely preventable. 

The major focus of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) FY 1996 budget request to Congress is on new initiatives in traffic injury control. NHTSA's programs focus on improved vehicle safety and behavioral changes to improve the safety of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

Highlights of the FY 1996 Budget Request 

The agency is requesting $340 million for FY 1996 compared to $277 million enacted by Congress for FY 1995. The increase reflects the Secretary's desire, within a constrained overall Departmental budget, to intensify attention on critical national traffic safety issues, preventing and mitigating crash injury, reducing alcohol and drug-impaired driving, and increasing safety belt and child safety seat use. The increase recognizes past successes of highway safety programs by putting funds where they will have the most success. 

•  NHTSA plans a two-pronged Safe Communities initiative to support injury control at the community level. First, the agency requests $5.6 million to develop community based systems on injury control, to be carried out with the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, with grants to Injury Control Research Centers, academic centers, trauma centers, and other non-profit organizations. 

  Second, the agency asks for an increase of $45.6 million in Section 402 grants to States to expand empowerment to communities to integrate their local approach to injury control. NHTSA's current constituencies in law enforcement and community safety activism groups will expand to new partners in health care, trauma centers, and private businesses.

•  NHTSA requests $1.6 million for the new child safety initiative Patterns for Life to increase the proper use of child safety seats by supporting consumer education and police enforcement and to complement private sector distribution of child seats to low income families. 

• There is an increase of $3.4 million over FY 95 for Campaign Safe and Sober, crucial to achieving the Secretary's goals of increasing safety belt use to 75 percent nationwide by 1997 and reducing alcohol related fatalities 35 percent to 11,000 annually by the year 2005. This campaign empowers States and communities to define their impaired driving and safety belt needs and provides technical assistance and program support. 
  
  
• There is about $5 million for the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. NHTSA will focus on occupant safety and evaluate the crashworthiness of new vehicle designs and materials. Several of NHTSA's programs continue successful consumer initiatives. 
  
  
• Continue funding to provide cost beneficial vehicle safety initiatives to increase motorist safety protection. Add side impact testing to existing frontal crash testing in the New Car Assessment Program, offering new car buyers information on 75 percent of crashes that produce severe injuries.
  
  
• Expand NHTSA's Auto Safety Hotline capability to respond to consumer requests for safety information and strengthen our investigation of defects.
  
  
• Maintain the efficiency of NHTSA's unique, large scale crash and injury databases that are vital to safety efforts by government and private entities, and enhance statewide crash-medical outcome data linkages.

 NHTSA's Highway Safety Grant programs support State and community efforts to create and implement innovative highway safety programs that address national safety areas identified and mandated by Congress. States are free to design programs that fit their own unique safety circumstances, and include periodic evaluation as a central part of the overall grant program.  

• Section 402 State and Community Grants - $168.6 million, including $123 million to support a coordinated national program of safety priorities identified by Congress in ISTEA, 1991, and $45.6 million for the new Safe Communities initiative.

• Section 410 Alcohol-Impaired Driving Countermeasures - $25 million for this incentive grant program has motivated the majority of States to institute measures identified by Congress such as administrative license revocation, .08 BAC laws, .02 BAC laws for underage 21, police roadside checkpoints, and mandatory testing of suspected impaired drivers. About 30 - 33 States will qualify in FY 1996.
   
• National Driver Register - down to $2.4 mil-lion, for a $1 million savings from FY 95. The new electronic Problem Driver Pointer System will be implemented in all States in FY 95, sharing pro-blem driver license information among the States. 

 U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-33
Washington, DC 20590

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