America’s traffic death epidemic is a public health emergency. The Secretary of Health and Human Services should treat it as such. — Streetsblog USA

In the past two weeks, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Vivek Murthy has made two bold moves: advocating for warning labels on social media platforms and declaring gun violence a public health crisis, arguing that emergencies require rapid action even when information is incomplete, and criticizing the failure to respond effectively to large-scale societal harm. In both cases, Murthy pointed to past successes such as seatbelts and airbags to emphasize the need for urgent action.

While guns and social media are political lightning rods, an equally serious health crisis is lurking unnoticed: the more than 42,000 deaths each year from car accidents. And unfortunately, this has not yet been one of the Secretary of Health’s official priorities.

Over the last five years for which federal data are available, more than 206,000 people have died from traffic violence, nearly as many as gun violence, which claimed more than 220,000 lives during the same period.

And both crises are worsening. Despite advances in vehicle safety, crash prevention efforts are failing. Traffic fatalities are increasing in the United States, while declining in most developed countries. From 2011 to 2023, traffic fatalities increased by over 33 percent—and pedestrian fatalities increased by 77 percent.

Although the number of road deaths far exceeds that of many other high-profile incidents such as plane crashes, deaths occur slowly but steadily throughout the year, making them too frequent to attract attention. Worse, trends show that previous prevention strategies are ineffective – and the crisis is worsening faster than we can cope with it.

Is it time to give traffic violence the urgency it deserves in the face of the current health crisis? How can this be done?

The Surgeon General should first recognize that the U.S. traffic fatality epidemic is unique among our peers and can be reversed. He must recognize the need for systemic change in U.S. policy for both public health and And Transport. It should reject the current urban transport model that treats road deaths as accidents, puts lives at risk and strains our shared natural and economic resources.

When we focus on things like seatbelts and airbags – measures that the US Secretary of Health and Human Services calls a success – we risk missing a broader systemic problem – and the mindsets associated with it – namely the real, growing emergency.

For example, the Surgeon General should seek comprehensive accident scene investigations to determine technical causes rather than placing blame on drivers or pedestrians. He can point out that past practices—such as building pedestrian overpasses rather than slowing down the dangerous roads over which they pass, or removing street trees to save the lives of drivers who veer off the roadway in accidents without regard for the pedestrians they might hit instead—do nothing to address the rising number of traffic fatalities and often make the problem worse. Other measures should include redesigning streets for lower speeds and safer sharing with pedestrians, cyclists, and smaller cars.

Effective action could help establish a new mindset based on bold action, avoiding terms like “car crash deaths” and recognizing that these incidents are both systemic and preventable.

By learning from global contexts, we can also take effective security measures that take socio-economic factors into account And the built environment, such as understanding how effective road design can act to offset racial disparities in traffic fatalities, equalize opportunity, and more. Social media campaigns can remind drivers of the dangers of traffic and promote safety without implying liability. Most importantly, having the Surgeon General reframe traffic violence as a public health crisis would help unleash new thinking on the issue, foster a sense of urgency, and advance the reform that is so desperately overdue.

Changing the way we talk and think about traffic violence requires moving beyond the entrenched rules, regulations and design guidelines of our streets. Reform is possible by prioritizing innovative measures and approaching resistance strategically.

The urgency of the traffic fatality crisis demands immediate action. By bringing this issue to the Surgeon General’s attention and supporting it, we can create safer, more livable communities and save American lives.