A child born today can expect to live an average of 78 years. That's the good news. The bad news is that one out of every 90 children born today will die violently in a motor vehicle crash. And 70 of every 100 will be injured in a highway crash at some point during their lives, many more than once.

Beginning a life with such high potential for motor vehicle-related death and injury is unnecessary and should not be acceptable in today's society, because the means to prevent significant numbers of highway crashes, deaths, and injuries are readily available.

A well-planned, coordinated approach to improving roadway safety that involves all elements of the traffic safety community focuses on low-cost, day-to-day improvements, and effectively implements new strategies can subst'antially reduce the nation's highway death toll and improve the future outlook for today's new citizens.

This Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and the tools developed to facilitate its implementation offer state and local transportation and safety agencies a life-saving blueprint ready for application in developing comprehensive highway safety plans.