State and Tribes Building New Traditions Series: Taffic Safety on Tribal Lands

State-Tribal Relations

States and Tribes Building New Traditions Series

This publication is a product of the State-Tribal Relations Project, a partnership between the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Congress of American Indians. The NCSL State-Tribal Relations Project policy series is designed to help legislators and tribal leaders gain a greater understanding of the issues affecting each constituency and to identify methods for cooperative policymaking in an issue-specific context.

Traffic Safety on Tribal Lands

By Melissa Savage
October 2004

Introduction

Traffic safety is an important public health concern for many individuals, organizations and elected officials. Each year approximately 42,000 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United State and, hundreds of thousands are injured. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 1 and 34. Not only do these crashes have tragic consequences for those involved and for their family members, but they also are expensive, costing society about $230 billion in 2000. Injuries, fatalities, and costs associated with traffic crashes pose an even more significant problem on Native American reservations.

State legislatures have passed many laws geared toward reducing injuries, fatalities and costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. Forty-nine states have seat belt laws (New Hampshire is the exception), and all 50 states have child passenger protection laws. These laws have had a positive effect on reducing injuries and fatalities. In the past 25 years, the fatality rate for child passengers has decreased by nearly 50 percent. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta announced in August 2004 that safety belt use in the United States reached 79 percent - the highest use rate in history. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that this increase in seat belt use will translate to more than 1,000 saved lives and a reduction in societal cost of $3.2 billion.

Although this is good news for Americans, the statistics are not as promising for Native Americans, African Americans or Latinos. Studies have shown that these groups are disproportionately affected by traffic crashes; they are less likely to buckle up, are more likely to drink and drive, and have higher instances of pedestrian injury and death. Native Americans have the highest risk of motor vehicle-related death of all ethnic groups. In some tribes fatality rates are two to three times higher than for all other races. Statistics show that, although traffic safety problems in the United States are improving, the same is not true for those who live on tribal lands. State governments rely on traffic safety laws, federal funding for traffic safety programs, law enforcement, better road construction, lighting and signage, and public education campaigns to help reduce the number of fatalities and injuries. Severe law enforcement shortages, lack of jurisdiction over non-native traffic offenders, limited funding for road improvements and lack of effective public awareness campaigns are just a few of the challenges facing tribal governments are they look for ways to reduce injuries and fatalities.

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