(Source: National Transportation Safety Board press release, April 25, 2022)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board has closed recommendations to reduce rail worker fatalities, one of 10 issues on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements for 2021-2022.
The closed recommendations are related to the deaths of two railway workers struck and killed by a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) train on January 26, 2010. The NTSB voted to close two related recommendations, R-12-034 and R-12-035, earlier this month.
This month marks the halfway point for the 2021-2022 Most Wanted List, used to target the agency’s congressionally mandated advocacy efforts on implementing safety recommendations that will reduce fatalities and injuries in every transportation mode.
“We are an agency that never, ever relents on safety,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “The NTSB carefully tracks and advocates for recommendations until they’re implemented — however long it takes. For example, it took 50 years of investigation, advocacy, and persistence by the NTSB to make positive train control a reality across the country.”
Five of the ten issues on the Most Wanted List are aimed at combatting the public health crisis on our roads—rising motor vehicle crash deaths and injuries.
Last year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration acted on an NTSB recommendation to develop a detailed pedestrian crash data set that better represents real-life scenarios when testing pedestrian collision avoidance systems. The closed recommendation is H-18-044.
“It’s unthinkable that we lose an average of 106 lives every day on our roads,” Homendy said. “We need bold, immediate action on NTSB recommendations to reverse this deadly trend and achieve our ultimate goal: zero roadway deaths.”
At any given time, the NTSB has more than 1,100 open, unimplemented safety recommendations that, when implemented, will improve safety for all who use the nation’s transportation system. Read more about NTSB Most Wanted List advocacy on our Safety Compass blog.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).