U.S. Government Aims for Zero Traffic Fatalities in 30 Years

Oct. 5, 2016—The Obama administration is aiming to eliminate traffic deaths in the United States within the next three decades, the Associated Press reports.

On Wednesday, Transportation Department officials laid out a plan that would focus initially on promoting efforts such as increased seat belt use, and campaigns against drunken and distracted driving.

The rapid introduction of self-driving cars and other advanced technologies makes it possible to achieve the zero deaths goal, the department said in a statement. Fully autonomous vehicles hold the potential to eliminate human error, which is a factor in 94 percent of crashes, according to the department. The plan was prompted by a 7.2 percent surge in road deaths last year.

The zero deaths concept was initially adopted in Sweden in 1997, as a plan called Vision Zero.