Traffic deaths rise in U.S. cities despite billions spent to make streets safer
CBSN
Two years after her 5-year-old daughter Allie was killed by a driver who ran a stop sign, Jessica Hart wants to know why little has changed. Despite repeated promises from local and federal transportation officials to slow down traffic and make streets safer in her community and around the country, the grieving Washington, D.C., mother said she hears a lot of talk, but little action.
"It felt like after Allie was killed, I couldn't not do something," Hart said. "If we're just expanding highways so that people can go faster, then what's that going to get us? It's not going to get us lives saved. So, it's a big societal change, really, that I think we need."
The U.S. Department of Transportation spent a total of $2.4 billion on programs aimed at reducing traffic fatalities in 2022 and 2023. Still, according to federal data CBS News analyzed, traffic deaths have been rising in most major American cities.
