Biden Launches First-Ever Program to Improve Safety on America’s Roadways
With United States citizens injured and killed in crashes involving cars and wildfires every year, a number of which only to increase with the ongoing climate crisis, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced details for the first-of-its-kind pilot program to make roads safer, prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions, and improve habitat connectivity.
According to the DOT, wildlife vehicle collisions are a clear safety issue, especially in rural areas. Each year in the United States, roughly 200 people are killed – and many more are injured – in more than one million collisions involving wildlife and vehicles. Through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, DOT is taking the unprecedented step of dedicating funding for wildlife crossing projects that will make our roads safer – making a total of $350 million available over five years, including more than $111 million in grants through its first round of awards funding this year.
