Highway safety state of the art prospects for the future
As Chart 1 shows, the trend in fatalities is generally upward. Wars and depressions (and recessions), and politics (embargoes), have their effects, but all have been temporary so far. We must consider that this trend is inexorable in spite of major efforts by the Federal Government, state and local governments, and many dedicated individuals. Billions of dollars have gone into the attempt to stem this upward trend. The U.S. Department of Transportation can be said to have been created in large part because of the mounting transportation fatalities and their approach to the 60,000 mark. Certainly the National Highway Traffic Safety Bureau, later upgraded to Administration, was created precisely because of this situation, and the then-Bureau of Public Roads in the Department of Commerce was upgraded to Federal Highway Administration.