Families for Safe Streets National

08/25/2026

What street safety interventions have been most effective in your community?

08/24/2026

The term “underride” refers to a particularly violent type of crash in which a lower-profile passenger vehicle skids underneath a higher-profile trailer, often severing the passenger compartment.

Marianne Karth experienced an underride on a Georgia highway in 2013, when a trailer hit her family’s car from behind, sending them sliding backwards underneath another truck. Her two daughters, AnnaLeah and Mary, were killed in the backseat, while Marianne and her son survived in the front seat.

Marianne’s story, which has been shared by outlets including PBS' Frontline, demonstrates not just the violent outcomes of these crashes, but also the need to reform trucking regulations to prevent future deaths.

Marianne and a group of safety advocates organized the crash simulation shown in the video below, which clearly shows the importance of sturdy side guards. Federal regulations do require underride guards on trailers, but thanks to the trucking lobby there are no strength testing requirements, hindering the rule's effectiveness. This is something NHTSA could address.

Link to PBS story: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/deadly-truck-crash-underride-stronger-regulations-advocate/

Link to Marianne's website: https://annaleahmary.com/about/

08/20/2026

Have you or a loved one been impacted by traffic violence? Do you want to support those who have been impacted?

We invite you join Families for Safe Streets for support and advocacy, using the following link:

08/20/2026

NORTH CAROLINA - Allison Simpson's husband, was riding 15 feet in front of her and their two small children; then, in an instant, he was gone!😢

Now she's pushing for a law that would prevent dangerous speeding across North Carolina.

This session, Rep. Mike Schietzelt filed House Bill 1199, which would require drivers who lose their licenses for extreme speeding to install anti-speeding technology as a condition of returning to the road.

Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article316936190.html =cpy

08/17/2026

“These incidents serve as a clear indicator that driver behavior must evolve,” said FSS advocate Joe Martinez, who lost his son to Fresno's deadly streets.

Fresno County recently ranked among the deadliest spots for speeding in the US😡

Fresno County had 223 speeding-related fatalities from 2020-2024, an average of 44.6 deaths per year and a fatality rate of 4.37 speeding-related deaths per 100,000 residents.

Full story:

A total of four California counties have some of the highest rates of speeding-related fatalities in the nation.

08/13/2026

Street safety is a choice, including the way we choose to design our streets.

Our roads and streets should be designed to protect the most vulnerable road users. Yet in the USA, we too often see designs that encourage deadly speed, leaving cyclists, pedestrians, and people with disabilities at a high risk.

These are some examples of streets that show aspects of both safe and not safe street design.

08/10/2026

These U.S. headlines all occurred within the LAST 24 HOURS.

A reminder that these are the types of consequences we choose to accept when we tolerate traffic violence. On any given day, there are countless instances just like these that can be prevented.

Crashes ≠ accidents.

08/07/2026

"Being in a car was the most dangerous thing most of us did on any given day, and we seemed to have no choice but to accept the consequences. But, it turns out, we don’t."

While road deaths remain unacceptably high, new data shows deaths fell 21% worldwide from 2011-2025, indicating that progress is possible.

"The simple idea that helped prevent millions of traffic deaths" 🔗 ⤵

The road safety revolution began when we stopped treating crashes as inevitable. Now, we have to finish the job.

08/05/2026

Speeding is one of the dumbest things we do.

If being dangerous isn’t a convincing enough reason to follow the speed limit, a new study finds that speeding barely saves time on our commutes while costing us at the pump.

No matter how you look at it, speeding simply isn’t worth it.

Read the full study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44458-026-00100-3