This year's U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration public service award honorees are saving lives, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a March 14 news release.
Buttigieg addressed the annual Lifesavers Conference on Highway Safety Priorities in Chicago where 11 public service award winners and one lifetime achievement award recipient were recognized.
"This year's honorees are doing vital work to save lives on America's roadways, and that's never been more important than right now with traffic deaths on the rise," Buttigieg said. "We cannot and must not accept these tragic deaths as somehow inevitable - they are preventable, and we are grateful for these extraordinary awardees for their tireless efforts to keep people safe."
The Lifesavers Conference was established to honor safety professionals in highway transportation who strive to reduce highway fatalities to zero. The conference now is the nation's largest annual gathering of highway safety professionals. The annual awards go individuals and organizations recognized during the conference work to educate the public and policymakers about road safety as well as enact policy themselves.
"We applaud the outstanding efforts of the highway safety professionals who help keep us safe on our nation's roads," NHTSA Deputy Administrator Dr. Steven Cliff. "Each awardee has worked tirelessly to make a real difference in the safety of our roads in local communities, cities, states and the nation."
This year's lifetime achievement awardee was the late Irene Riojas Rodriguez, for her "groundbreaking success in developing and implementing lifesaving child passenger safety programs for underserved populations among the Latino, Black and Tribal communities," the release said. Rodriguez was a longtime Texas Transportation Institute for Transportation child passenger safety instructor.
This year's other awardees are: Laura Bailey, George Chwe, FIESTA IX Project, Jennie Glasgow, Holly Kostrzewski, the late Capt. David “Mac” MacAlpine, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Dr. Clay Mann, Sgt. Wesley Pennington, Judge Wesley A. Roberts and the Safe on All Roads Program.
See the NHTSA news release for more information on the awardees.
