It is a pleasure to be here in Amsterdam to meet with so many of our international colleagues working to prevent transportation crashes and the deaths and injuries that result from these crashes. I am particularly happy with the subject I’ve been asked to talk about –Improving Transportation Safety Through Independent Accident Investigation and Public Advocacy -- because, quite frankly, independence and public advocacy are the keystone of our success.

As you know, the NTSB was created in 1967 as an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The NTSB has a congressional mandate to determine the probable causes of transportation accidents and to formulate recommendations – which are our most important products -- to improve transportation safety. In 1974, NTSB’s mandate was strengthened by a law that totally cut the NTSB's ties to the DOT and made it fully independent. For the past 24 years, the Board has had no organizational connection to the DOT, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, the other modal administrations or any other government transportation regulators.

To bolster NTSB’s independence from forces outside of government and to make sure that investigations focus only on improving transportation safety, the Board’s analysis of factual information and its determination of probable cause cannot be entered as evidence in a court of law. In short, our investigators are not pressured to follow the money or power. They follow the facts.

This independence and clear mandate to conduct in-depth objective investigations, draw conclusions from its findings, and to make recommendations to improve safety, without bias or undue influence from industry or other government agencies, is essential to maintaining the safety of the traveling public. As a result of this independent role, the NTSB often tackles safety issues that are often times controversial and critical of government or industry standards or operations.

Among all the organizations that ensure the safety of our transportation system, the independent Safety Board stands apart. As the eyes and ears of the American people at major transportation accidents, we focus on all facets - the private and public transportation owners and operators, the manufacturers, and the government regulators. We look at every aspect for ways to improve the safety of systems. It is important to note that we have no regulatory authority. We can only effect safety improvements through indirect pressure - mainly through our issuance of safety recommendations. And, we know that our ability to be effective depends on our ability to do quality work.

This is a daunting responsibility and one we take very seriously. I believe our record speaks for itself. Over the years, more than 85 percent of our recommendations have been implemented and those recommendations have led to such safety improvements as ground proximity warning systems for aircraft, shelf couplers and thermal protection for railroad tank cars, age-21 drinking laws, personal flotation devices for children in recreational boats, and fatigue testing of buried pipelines, as well as one level of safety for airline passengers whether they fly on big jets or commuter airlines.

Obviously, the Safety Board hasn't achieved these successes alone. The effectiveness of our safety initiatives are also the result of the enforcement efforts of the regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, and the oversight provided by State and local governments. But, ultimately, the success of any safety measure rests with the transportation industries, the operators, and the manufacturers.

We strongly believe that our investigations have improved and standardized the investigation process and improved transportation safety.

The investigation is the first step in the process, but adoption of the Safety Board's recommendation is not even the end point. The real bottom line is to prevent transportation crashes. If the Safety Board has no regulatory authority, how does it achieve transportation safety?

As an agency that has no regulatory authority, the Safety Board gets results by its powers of persuasion or, as indicated in the title of this presentation, through public advocacy. We are required by law to make recommendations public, and that means that responses to those recommendations are also public.

Since 1967, we have issued 10,800 recommendations and almost 83 per cent of them have been accepted. And although you may only hear or read about some of our high-profile recommendations that grab the media’s attention, safety improvements – both big and small -- are happening all the time.

Just last year, NTSB closed out 277 of our recommendations as "acceptable" action by the scores of government agencies and private industry recipients we issued them to.

 The Safety Board issues two classes of recommendations: urgent, and other. Most of the urgent recommendations have been issued in the aviation mode and enjoy a much higher acceptance rate, especially at the Federal Aviation Administration (90 percent).

Over 4,200 recommendations have been issued to other federal agencies, state, county, and municipal agencies, and to transportation companies, manufacturers, associations, and others in a position to make changes in the transportation system. In most cases, Congress did not provide these groups with incentives to pay attention to the Board's recommendations. However, Congress helps in other ways in promoting these recommendations. For example, subsequent to Safety Board recommendations to the States, Congress enacted legislation requiring States to enact minimum drinking age laws and zero alcohol tolerance for drivers under the age of 21 years. Congress also mandated transportation employer alcohol testing programs.

With the other recommendation recipients, the Safety Board's ability to cause change for greater safety in transportation is dependent on a variety of techniques. First, and most important, the Safety Board carefully monitors actions on its recommendations. The recommendations are issued to the recipients and follow-up is made orally, in writing, and in person as necessary. The Safety Board recently reorganized to achieve the aggressive follow-up necessary to change. I will discuss the reorganization later. While both the leadership and staff of the Board are involved in follow-up at different levels, the staff provides the necessary monitoring, evaluation, and coordination to support the follow-up. Personal contact and persistence help explain the Board's recommendations to companies or political leaders who may have seen few or none of these recommendations previously.

Certain recommendations deemed by the Board to be of particular importance are given special attention through our "Most Wanted Program." This program highlights a limited number of recommendations that we believe will make the greatest impact on safety if implemented. Since its inception in 1990, the Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements has included as many as 21 recommendations, but was just recently pared down to ten issue areas. The recommendations on the Most Wanted List are often the focus for the media, the public and the Congress.

In order to promote its recommendations through public advocacy, the Safety Board participates in professional organizations and meetings with the recommendation recipients. As you know, the United States is pluralistic society and has been called a nation of "joiners." There are hundreds of transportation organizations and thousands of transportation-related groups, both domestic and international. Such organizations may include: ICAO, IMO, the Transportation Research Board, American Public Transit Association, the Association of American Railroads, the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and many others. At these meetings, the Safety Board presents papers and speeches and takes every opportunity to promote recommendations to that group or association. The meetings also provide opportunities for fruitful exchange of information; updates on progress; and discussion of potentially acceptable alternatives to the recommendations. The personal relationships developed at these meetings provide a greater understanding of the goals of each and may benefit both the Board and the recipients in the future.

Recently, the Safety Board has initiated or participated in a variety of coalitions, primarily in the highway and railroad area. This has become an important way to create support for recommendations by building partnerships that bridge organizational differences to save lives. The first of these was a strictly highway safety-related coalition. The Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration invited a variety of national organizations to join the Administrative License Revocation Coalition (ALR Coalition). The purpose of the coalition was to promote enactment of State laws whereby the police officer, as an agent of the motor vehicle agency, could confiscate the driver's license of a driver who exceeded the legal alcohol concentration of who refused a chemical test for alcohol. When the coalition was formed in 1991, 29 States had such laws and, by 1997, 39 States and the District of Columbia had ALR laws.

In 1994, the ALR Coalition expanded its range of interests to the following: zero alcohol tolerance for young drivers; graduated drivers licensing for young drivers; lower BAC (0.08) laws for all drivers; and monitoring of State minimum drinking age laws to prevent repeal. In 1997, the Coalition agreed to participate with another coalition that is promoting standard (primary) safety belt and child safety seat laws.

Over 50 groups now participate in the coalition. Members include safety organizations, insurance companies and associations, auto manufacturers and associations, medical groups, advocacy groups such as MADD and RID, and women's clubs.

In many areas, the progress made by this coalition has been dramatic. For example, when the Safety Board issued its recommendations on zero alcohol tolerance laws for young drivers, only 6 States had a law consistent with the recommendations. By the end of 1997, 46 States and the District of Columbia had such laws. The remaining States are expected to enact such laws in 1998.

The Safety Board participated with other groups and the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances to develop model laws for graduated licensing of young drivers, standard seat belt laws, and model child safety seat laws. Development of a model law is a necessity so that States can adapt that model law to their own constitution and code.

Six States now have graduated license laws consistent with the national model and 12 other States have components of such laws. Also, in 1993, only 8 States had a nighttime driving restriction for young novice drivers. This law provides for safer driving and better understanding of night driving by requiring that a licensed adult driver accompany the young (15 & 16 year-old) driver. By the end of 1997, 18 States had such provisions.

Progress in lowering the alcohol concentration for all drivers has been more difficult, especially in the face of well organized and well funded industry opposition. Nevertheless, 16 States now set 0.08 as the illegal alcohol concentration and 15 of these States have made that level a "per se" offense.

The Coalition members have also been successful in defeating measures to repeal minimum drinking age laws at state and federal levels.

The Safety Board also participates in the Air Bag Safety Campaign, an automotive industry-funded coalition promoting safety belt and child safety seat laws and educational programs related to airbags, safety belts, and child safety seats. When the Board issued its recommendation on standard (primary enforcement) seat belt laws, only 9 States had such laws. As of the end of 1997, 13 States had enacted standard laws and others had improved child safety seat laws. This is commendable considering the perceived personal privacy rights and "rugged individualism" in the American psyche.

The Safety Board, with the U.S. Coast Guard, state boating law administrators, insurance companies, and others, formed the National Recreational Boating Safety Coalition several years ago. As a result, all but 2 States now have a law prohibiting boating while impaired although 9 of the States with such laws did not enact implied consent to chemical testing for alcohol concentration. This limits enforcement of the law. One State has enacted boat operator licensing. As of 1997, 31 States have laws requiring young persons to wear a personal flotation device while in the boat. Twenty of those States have laws that are consistent with the Safety Board's recommendations.

The Safety Board helped with the national development of Operation Lifesaver in 1977. This is a, public-private partnership to reduce rail grade crossing fatalities, first formed in 1972. Forty-nine States now have their own Operation Lifesaver programs. The vast majority of rail-highway grade crossings in the United States are unprotected crossings. Therefore, education and communications among the various railroads, state, county and city highway departments, the federal government and the motoring public is necessary to reduce these crashes. This partnership has resulted in a reduction of crashes and fatalities at rail grade crossings. For example, in 1972, over 1,200 people were killed in rail-grade crossing crashes. By 1997, that number had been reduced to 447 and injuries had been reduced from 12,000 to 1,497.

The Safety Board also participates in the Roadway Safety Foundation, a coalition of organizations concerned with traffic engineering and traffic safety. This group considers Safety Board recommendations and promotes redesign and reconstruction as necessary. Also, the foundation is an important group in the reissuance of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

Approximately 42,000 persons die each year on roads and highways in the United States. Between 700 and 900 persons die each year in recreational boating mishaps. Safety Board initiation and participation in coalitions are necessary in our federal system of government and critical to enactment of relatively uniform State laws and practices. This, in turn, achieves the goal of the safety recommendation - preventing crashes from recurring.

While we have a long way to go, we have made progress. The U.S. used to experience over 55,000 highway fatalities, over 1,000 recreational boating fatalities, and 1,200 grade crossing fatalities each year.

We, and our partners, are committed to reducing traffic and boating fatalities even more. For example, we are partners with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the "Partners in Progress" program. The goal of that program is to reduce alcohol-related fatalities from over 17,000 in 1996 to 11,000 by 2005. This is a commendable and difficult, but achievable goal.

We believe that this kind of aggressive advocacy of Safety Board recommendations is necessary to achieving our safety goal. To that end, Chairman Jim Hall has reorganized and renamed my office. It is now the Office of Safety Recommendations and Accomplishments. We have a dedicated staff of safety recommendation specialists for each mode of transportation in our Safety Recommendations Division. They provide the development, monitoring, evaluation, and follow-up necessary to achieve the change recommended by the Safety Board. The Safety Accomplishments Division has been created to develop programs to promote the public awareness of our recommendations and to advance the action of our regional offices in improving safety.

We believe that partnerships and our reorganized recommendation follow-up are even more effective than the approach we had been using. We expect higher levels of safety as a result.