Learn More

Stay informed on how autonomous driving technology has the potential to improve our lives.

Your email has been submitted succesfully. Unexpected error, please try again.
I would like to subscribe to updates from Let's Talk Autonomous Driving, having read and agreed to the privacy policy and terms.

National Safety Council

Every life lost to traffic violence is a family member, friend and neighbor. A Safe System approach can help us reach zero traffic deaths.

The National Safety Council is America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate – and has been for over 100 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, including on our roadways. American roadways are more dangerous today than they have been in decades, particularly for people walking, biking and rolling.

NSC is committed to combining proven countermeasures with innovative solutions through the Safe System approach so we can eliminate serious roadway injuries and help get America to zero traffic deaths. Communities must be designed so people can get to where they need and want to go safely, conveniently and reliably. In addition to designing safer streets and adopting safer speeds, our response to the current crisis on our roadways must consider the rapid ways vehicles and mobility technology are changing, including the development and deployment of autonomous driving technology.

As we work toward a future of improved multi-modal mobility for all, NSC remains dedicated to making today’s communities safer. Some of our road safety initiatives for today’s road users include:

  • The Road to Zero Coalition, a group of over 1,500 organizations, managed by NSC, working to end traffic deaths by 2050
  • The Future of Mobility, an effort to ensure a future of safe, equitable mobility for all
  • MyCarDoesWhat™, a program to educate drivers on existing vehicle safety technologies
  • Check To Protect®, a national campaign to encourage drivers to check the recall status of their vehicles and have open recalls fixed immediately
  • DriveitHOME.org™, a program to get parents and caregivers involved as their teens learn to drive
  • Child Passenger Safety, a collection of programs and resources to ensure children are properly secured and protected in motor vehicles
  • Distracted Driving Awareness Month, an annual campaign in April to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving

Quick Facts

  • The pedestrian fatality rate for Native Americans is nearly five times higher than that of white Americans; for Black Americans, it is nearly twice as high as that of white Americans
  • Older adults and drivers under the age of 25 have higher fatality rates than other age groups
  • The majority of crash-test dummies are designed to represent the 50th percentile male; there is no good representative for female drivers or passengers, despite the fact that women comprise about half of all drivers