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Emergency order another step forward in rail safety

Our Federal Railroad Administration has helped reduce train accidents by 43 percent over the last decade; their work helped make 2012 the safest year in American rail history. But when safety is your number one priority, there's no resting. Last Friday, the FRA took another step forward in rail safety, issuing an Emergency Order and Safety Advisory to help prevent unattended trains carrying hazardous materials from moving unintentionally.

Friday's announcement was made in response to the tragic July 6 derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. While the full investigation has not yet to concluded, we can't afford to wait to take steps that would help prevent a similar incident from occurring here in the U.S.  The American people deserve no less.

Photo of train with fuel cars

Continuing to deliver on our number one priority: Safety

Last week, I wrote here in the Fast Lane that we at DOT must work harder than ever before to give the American people what they need when it comes to transportation. And the most important thing the American people are counting on us to deliver is safety.

For generations, Americans have ridden on planes, trains, buses, cars, boats, and bikes—not having to think about whether their chosen mode of transportation is safe or not. They trust that our system will work, and work safely.

The good news is that, over the last four and half years, DOT has already been doing this.

Photo of Secretary Foxx speaking with U.S. and D.O.T. flags

News Digest

  • U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood Awards $400,000 to Develop Hybrid Road Locomotive Technologies. 
  • U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood Awards more than $400,000 to Improve Track Safety 
  • MassDOT Receives $2.7 Million to Improve Freight and Passenger Service

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Announces More NTSB Recommendations Completed in 2010 Than in Last Five Years

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that, in keeping with his commitment to make safety the top priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. DOT has already completed more NTSB safety recommendations in 2010 than in any of the last five years. Over the last eighteen months, the Department has set an aggressive safety agenda, proactively taking on a number of critical safety issues, including distracted driving, pilot fatigue, and transit safety, as well as holding automakers accountable for vehicle defects.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Kicks Off Second National Distracted Driving Summit

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood kicked off the 2010 national Distracted Driving Summit today by announcing new anti-distracted driving regulations for drivers transporting hazardous materials, commercial truck and bus drivers, and rail operators, and by identifying more than 550 U.S. companies – employing 1.5 million people nationwide – that have committed to enacting anti-distracted driving employee policies in the next twelve months. The Department of Transportation also released interim data this morning from its pilotenforcement campaigns in Hartford, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York, showing that its “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” enforcement efforts have already dramatically reduced distracted driving behavior in both cities.

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