    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [February 19, 1991]
    [Pages 153-154]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Reports on Highway and Motor
    Vehicle Safety
    February 19, 1991

    To the Congress of the United States:
        It is my privilege to provide you with the annual reports on
    activities under the Highway Safety Act (23 U.S.C. 401 Note) and the
    National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1408), both
    enacted in 1966. These reports provide an overview of our activities
    during calendar year 1989 and an overview of the National Highway
    Traffic Safety Administration's priority plan for the next 3 years. The
    plan will be an evolving guideline for the agency's safety activities to
    improve motor vehicle and traffic safety over the next several years.
        The plan includes motor vehicle rulemaking on the crashworthiness of
    passenger cars, light trucks, and vans; vehicle rollover stability; and
    safety improvements in heavy trucks, school buses, and child safety
    seats.
        It also calls for initiatives to promote

    [[Page 154]]

    State laws and programs to increase safety belt use, motorcycle helmet
    use, and to discourage drunk and drugged driving.
        The report on motor vehicle safety includes the annual reporting
    requirement in Title I of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings
    Act of 1972 (bumper standards).
        In the Highway Safety Acts of 1973, 1976, and 1978, the Congress
    expressed its special interest in certain aspects of traffic safety that
    are addressed in the volume on highway safety.
        I am pleased to inform you that 1989 was a year of significant gains
    in traffic safety. The traffic fatality rate, the accepted measure of
    risk on the road, was 2.2 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled,
    the lowest in history and down 33 percent since 1980. Safety belt use is
    also higher than ever, with 46 percent of Americans buckling up, and
    drunk driving fatalities have declined significantly.
        There is good news for Americans in virtually every critical part of
    the highway safety picture. The decline in the fatality rate is
    especially encouraging and means that we are able to drive with less
    risk, and the dramatic increase in safety belt use and public concern
    about drunk driving have translated into thousands of lives saved and
    injuries avoided.
        The progress we have made is, of course, no consolation to the
    relatives and friends of the 45,500 people who, despite the safety
    advances and greater public awareness, lost their lives in traffic
    accidents in 1989.
        As we continue to pursue highway and motor vehicle safety programs
    that are most effective in reducing deaths and injuries, we are
    convinced that significant progress in traffic safety can be achieved
    through the combined efforts of government, industry, and the public.

                                                                 George Bush

    The White House,
    February 19, 1991.