​​Good afternoon, Chair Nguyen, Vice Chair Pazina, and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to testify before you today.

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation—railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. We determine the probable causes of the accidents and events we investigate and issue safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences. In addition, we conduct transportation safety research studies and offer information and other assistance to family members and survivors for each accident or event we investigate. We also serve as the appellate authority for enforcement actions involving aviation and mariner certificates issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and US Coast Guard, and we adjudicate appeals of civil penalty actions taken by the FAA.

The NTSB has no power to regulate or legislate, and we rely on the persuasive power of our comprehensive investigations and research to encourage the recipients of our recommendations to act to improve safety. We appreciate the opportunity to testify in support of our recommendation to Nevada to remove operational and location restrictions on the use of automated speed enforcement (ASE), except where such restrictions are necessary to align with best practices. If implemented, SB 415 would allow governmental entities to authorize automated traffic enforcement systems, including ASE, with some guidelines.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has estimated that nearly 41,000 people were killed on our roads in 2023, including 389 in Nevada.[1] NHTSA’s estimate also shows that speeding contributed to 25 percent of traffic fatalities in Nevada in 2022.[2] This is unacceptable and is one of the reasons the NTSB has long focused on speeding as a major highway safety issue.

Speeding can result in loss of vehicle control, which increases both the likelihood of a crash and the severity of injuries sustained. In 2022, we investigated a crash in North Las Vegas where nine people were killed, and speeding was one of the factors that led to the crash. Unfortunately, speeding-related crashes like this are not a new issue nationwide; we investigated over 50 major crashes between 1967 and 2024 where speed was a safety issue or casual or contributing factor.​

​​In 2017, we published a safety study, Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes Involving Passenger Vehicles, in which we found that ASE is an effective countermeasure to reduce speeding-related crashes, fatalities, and injuries. We issued Safety Recommendation H-17-33 to multiple states—including Nevada—to amend current laws to remove operational and location restrictions on ASE, except where such restrictions are necessary to align with best practices. Safety Recommendation H-17-33 is currently classified Open—Acceptable Response to your state.[3],[4]

Previous NTSB investigations showed that, when properly implemented, ASE systems can slow speeds on our roadways. We investigated a crash in Mount Pleasant, PA involving a motorcoach carrying 59 passengers and two trucks towing semitrailers. As a result of this crash, there were five fatalities and fifty people were injured. Speed was a major contributor in the crash. We found that speed safety cameras are an effective countermeasure to reduce speeding-related crashes, fatalities, and injuries and recommended Pennsylvania expand the use of this technology.

Multiple studies have also found that ASE systems are effective at slowing down drivers and reducing crashes. One study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety found that the proportion of drivers exceeding speed limits on city roads by more than 10 miles per hour declined by at least 70 percent 6 months after these speed safety cameras were introduced.[5] Further, studies have found that speed safety cameras were associated with an 8-percent reduction in the likelihood that a crash was speeding-related, and a 19-percent reduction in the likelihood that a crash involved an incapacitating or fatal injury.[6]

Another study looking at the effectiveness of an automated speed enforcement pilot program on Roosevelt Boulevard, an urban arterial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, found that crashes, injuries, and fatalities on the sections of the road with cameras decreased compared to similar roadways.[7] There was a 95-percent drop in speed violations and a 21-percent decrease in fatal and serious injury crashes in the first 2 years of the program.[8] The Roosevelt Boulevard pilot was initially authorized by the Pennsylvania legislature in 2019. The program was so successful, it was permanently reauthorized and expanded to include five additional corridors in 2024. ​

Several federal agencies consider ASE to be one of the most effective speeding countermeasures, including NHTSA, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many road safety stakeholder organizations support ASE legislation as well, including the Governors Highway Safety Association, the American Association for State Highway and Transportation Officials, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of City Transportation Officials. The FHWA also included speed safety cameras in its newest set of Proven Safety Countermeasures in its Speed Safety Camera Program Planning and Operations Guide​.[9]

Speed safety cameras result in slower, safer speeds. Slower speeds save lives. The NTSB believes that the only acceptable number of deaths on our roads is zero, and it has been our charge since our founding to determine how to eliminate transportation fatalities. ASE is a proven countermeasure, and enacting SB 415 will save lives on Nevada’s roads.