The Resilience Imperative: Building a Safer Future on Our Roads

In my last article, I explored how resilience isn’t just about grit or well-being; it’s about building systems that protect performance and human capacity under pressure. This next chapter continues that transformation by focusing on where resilience meets reality: in how organizations lead on safety, trust, and execution, particularly within the high-stakes environment of roadway operations.

Resilience does not live in vision statements; it’s operationalized in the everyday systems, decisions, and behaviors that either support or sabotage long-term performance and, critically, the safety of our people and the communities we serve.

Why Roadway Safety is a Leadership Imperative for Resilience

The current state of roadway safety demands urgent attention. Despite decades of investment in safer infrastructure and vehicle design, progress in reducing roadway fatalities has been slow and inconsistent. This troubling reality highlights a deeper issue: many of our current safety approaches lack the hallmarks of a truly resilient system the ability to deliver sustained, year-over-year improvements in the face of evolving risks and operational pressures. The key takeaway for leaders here is to elevate roadway safety from a compliance function to a strategic imperative that underpins organizational resilience.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 3,200 lives are lost every day on roads around the world. These are not just numbers—they represent families, coworkers, and communities devastated by preventable tragedies. For organizations that operate transportation assets, the impact extends beyond the human toll to include serious operational, reputational, and financial risks.

We can no longer afford to make marginal improvements at the edges. The limited and sporadic success of traditional strategies points to a fundamental problem: too often, we rely on systems that are reactive rather than resilient. It's time to shift from fragmented fixes to a comprehensive, proactive approach one that embeds safety into the core of how we operate.

We must reframe safety not as a compliance obligation but as a strategic pillar of resilience a catalyst for sustained performance and long-term sustainability.

To that end, I urge business leaders, fleet executives, and safety professionals to engage in a fundamental rethinking of how we manage risk and performance. This is not just a transportation issue it is a leadership challenge that transcends industries.

Imagine applying the same reactive, piecemeal mindset to a public health crisis. The results would be unacceptable. Yet that is exactly how we’ve allowed roadway safety to be treated. We must instead build systems that are inherently safe, systems that anticipate risk, prevent harm, and adapt quickly to emerging challenges.

This is about more than saving lives though that alone is reason enough. It’s also about safeguarding the productivity of our workforce, reducing pressure on healthcare systems, and minimizing the emotional and economic burden that crashes impose on individuals and organizations alike.

Incremental change is no longer sufficient. We need bold, coordinated, and measurable action. By sharing best practices across industries, investing in forward-thinking solutions, and elevating safety to a core leadership value and responsibility, we can build a more resilient transportation system and a more resilient society.

As e-commerce continues to expand into rural regions with narrower roads, limited route options, and longer emergency response times, the stakes are rising. Without parallel improvements in how we manage roadway risk, this increased complexity will only amplify exposure. Now more than ever, we need resilient systems that meet today’s demands and anticipate tomorrow’s.

Recognizing Progress: Collective Efforts, Positive Results

The significant progress achieved in roadway safety is a testament to the collective dedication of numerous stakeholders. Commendable efforts across infrastructure improvements, regulatory advancements, technology adoption, corporate accountability initiatives, drivers, and the tireless work of fleet, transportation, warehouse, and safety professionals have undoubtedly contributed to preventing countless incidents and mitigating potential harm.

The increasing prevalence of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in modern vehicles is playing a crucial role in crash prevention. Features like Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), and Blind Spot Detection are designed to assist drivers in recognizing and responding to potential hazards, thereby reducing the likelihood and severity of collisions. Studies have shown that these technologies can lead to significant reductions in various types of crashes.

Over the past two decades, telematics integration within US fleet vehicles has become widespread, with adoption estimated at around 80%. The global telematics market, spanning both consumer and commercial sectors, is projected for substantial expansion. While market value growth estimates vary between research firms, ranging from approximately $108 billion to over $681 billion by the early to mid-2030s depending on methodology, a strong Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in the range of at least 14% is generally anticipated over the coming decade (e.g., through 2032-2035). This investment reflects the growing recognition of data and technology's role in enhancing safety and efficiency.

Furthermore, the effectiveness of airbags in saving lives and reducing the severity of injuries during crashes cannot be overstated. Designed to work in conjunction with seat belts, airbags provide a crucial cushioning effect, significantly decreasing the chances of upper body and head trauma in the event of a collision. Frontal airbags alone are estimated to have saved tens of thousands of lives, and advancements in side, curtain, and knee airbags offer even greater protection in various impact scenarios. While acknowledging this progress, leaders must avoid complacency and recognize that these advancements provide a foundation upon which to build truly resilient safety systems that aim for zero harm.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Facts, published in April 2025, an estimated 39,345 lives were lost in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2024. This represents a 3.8 percent decrease in fatalities compared to 2023, with the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) also declining to 1.20 from the previous year's 1.26. This reduction in fatalities occurred despite a 1 percent increase in overall vehicle miles traveled, representing approximately 32.3 billion additional miles driven. While this progress is encouraging, the absolute number of fatalities remains a critical concern, underscoring the need for more resilient and proactive strategies that leverage technologies like ADAS and the continued effectiveness of occupant protection systems.

Continuous Improvement: A Cornerstone of Resilient Safety

Although safety is often described as a top priority, in resilient organizations, it’s something deeper: a core value that guides decision-making, shapes culture, and informs system design at every level. Resilience, in this context, is not a static state but a dynamic capability for continuous adaptation and improvement in the face of challenges. For leaders, this means embedding safety into the very fabric of operations.

When framed through the lens of resilience, safety transcends mere compliance. It becomes a leading indicator of how well an organization supports its people, protects operational capacity, and prepares for disruption. High-performing, resilient organizations don’t treat safety and performance as trade-offs; rather, they recognize safety as a strategic enabler of trust, focus, and long-term value. For business leaders, a strong safety record translates to operational stability, reduced costs associated with incidents, and enhanced brand reputation.

This is especially clear on the public roadway, where frontline workers like drivers operate in unpredictable, high-risk conditions. When incidents occur, it’s tempting to place the blame on individual error. But resilient leaders look upstream, examining system design. Roadway crashes are often the result of system failures schedules, suboptimal routes, ineffective training, poor safety leadership, insufficient vehicle maintenance not solely the driver's decisions. This systems perspective is a hallmark of resilient thinking, focusing on addressing root causes rather than just treating symptoms.

When people feel physically protected and psychologically safe key elements of a resilient work environment they speak up, stay engaged, and help surface risks before they escalate. And when safety systems are well-designed, from vehicle specifications and maintenance workflows to driver support programs, teams effectively mitigate risks, recover faster from disruption, and the culture reinforces resilience as an everyday practice, not just a crisis response. Building this proactive and adaptive safety culture is central to organizational resilience and requires leadership commitment from the top down. Leaders must actively cultivate a safety culture rooted in core values, where continuous learning from both successes and failures drives proactive system improvements.

Resilience in Motion: Enhancing Roadway Safety Through Systemic Design

Operating vehicles on public roads is one of the most dangerous yet routine activities organizations perform. The risk is amplified by several converging factors. First, the sheer exposure is staggering; there are over 4.1 million miles of public roads in the United States, creating an expansive and unpredictable operating environment for commercial fleets. With more than 242 million licensed drivers sharing those roads, the volume of daily interactions between private vehicles, commercial assets, pedestrians, and the exponential growth of micromobility presents an unparalleled level of complexity.

Frequency also plays a critical role. Commercial drivers often spend six to eleven hours behind the wheel each day, navigating congested traffic, adverse weather, and tight delivery windows. This repetitive exposure compounds physical and cognitive fatigue. And when incidents do occur, the severity is disproportionately high. Crashes involving heavy vehicles are more likely to result in significant harm, including fatalities, litigation, and long-term reputational damage, all significant business risks.

In this high-risk environment, safety cannot be treated as a compliance checklist; it must be integrated as an operational pillar of real-time resilience. That means moving beyond surface-level driver training and into system design: investigating how schedules, route plans, asset conditions, and frontline feedback all contribute to risk. It requires a cultural shift where safety is embedded as a shared value, not just a management directive. Employees must feel empowered to report concerns without fear, and organizations must respond to those concerns with urgency and transparency. Leaders must champion this cultural shift, recognizing that a strong safety culture is a resilient culture. The actionable takeaway for organizations operating fleets is to shift focus from solely driver behavior to a comprehensive system design approach that considers schedules, routes, vehicle maintenance, and frontline feedback as critical safety levers.

A defining characteristic of resilient organizations is their capacity for continuous learning and adaptation. In the context of roadway safety, near-misses and small failures are not just incidents to be recorded; they are invaluable opportunities to analyze system weaknesses and proactively adapt to prevent future harm. By establishing robust mechanisms to listen, learn, and act on these leading indicators such as analyzing trends in harsh braking/acceleration data from telematics, tracking the quality and frequency of safety observations, and monitoring the effectiveness of fatigue management programs organizations embed continuous improvement into their operating model, directly building resilience against future disruptions and safety failures, and ultimately improving their bottom line through reduced risk and operational efficiency.

Safer Roads: History, Performance, and the Role of Technology

Roadway safety in the United States has evolved significantly over the past century, but not without setbacks. The creation of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s marked a major milestone in transportation infrastructure, yet roadway fatalities have remained a persistent challenge. Despite advancements in vehicle design and traffic laws, nearly 40,000 people still die on U.S. roads each year, with commercial vehicles involved in a disproportionate number of high-severity incidents. For organizations with large fleets, this represents a significant area of risk and potential impact.

Historically, efforts to improve safety have focused heavily on compliance with seatbelt laws, blood alcohol limits, and speed regulations. These were necessary and impactful. But as fleet operations and logistics have scaled in complexity, it has become clear that compliance alone isn’t enough. We must transition from enforcing rules to engineering systems, integrating technology that supports human factors by providing insights into driver fatigue and stress, alongside broader operational design improvements to anticipate and reduce risk. This proactive approach is central to building a resilient safety framework.

Building upon the progress enabled by technologies like ADAS, the shift towards proactive risk management is further amplified by the integration of these systems with telematics platforms. These tools generate real-time data on driver behavior, vehicle performance, and environmental conditions. Organizations can now detect fatigue patterns, track hard braking events, or flag speeding before an incident occurs. For fleet leaders, this data provides unprecedented opportunities for targeted interventions and performance improvement. Leaders must ensure that technology adoption is accompanied by robust training, a supportive safety culture, and data-driven decision-making to maximize its impact on resilience. Historically, while compliance efforts yielded some improvements in key performance indicators like incident rates per miles driven, the integration of modern technologies offers the potential for even more significant gains in operational efficiency and a demonstrable reduction in safety-related losses.

However, technology alone does not guarantee resilience. Its true potential is unlocked when it is strategically integrated within a broader resilient system, supported by robust training programs that ensure proper utilization, a strong safety culture that values data-driven insights, and proactive leadership that interprets data with context, not just discipline. Leaders must champion this integrated approach to maximize the ROI of safety technology.

The current opportunity lies in connecting historical lessons with modern capabilities. We now have the tools to move from reactive safety programs to predictive, resilience-driven approaches. The goal is no longer just to reduce crashes, it’s to build systems that protect people, learn from disruption, and continuously adapt creating a more resilient and sustainable transportation ecosystem.

Despite the promising advancements in technology and the stated commitment to safety, a critical question remains for organizations striving for resilience and long-term success: Are these efforts translating into consistently improving safety outcomes and a demonstrable return on investment? What key performance indicators are we rigorously tracking and transparently reporting to measure our progress? How are we normalizing data to account for factors like increased mileage and evolving risks? And crucially, are we honestly confronting both our successes and setbacks to foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptation a hallmark of a resilient organization? The persistent stark reality of roadway fatalities suggests that simply deploying technology without a deeply embedded resilient safety system is insufficient. Leaders must demand data-driven insights and a clear link between safety initiatives and tangible improvements in key metrics.

Key Actionable Takeaways for Leaders:

• Elevate Safety: Treat roadway safety as a strategic imperative for organizational resilience, not just a compliance requirement.
• Embrace a Systems Perspective: Look beyond individual driver behavior to identify and address systemic root causes of safety risks.
• Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Establish mechanisms for learning from near-misses and failures, and proactively adapt safety systems.
• Prioritize Systemic Design: Engineer inherently safer operations by considering schedules, routes, vehicle maintenance, and frontline feedback.
• Integrate Technology Strategically: Ensure that ADAS and telematics are implemented with robust training, a supportive culture, and data-driven decision-making.
• Demand Data-Driven Insights: Rigorously track and transparently report key safety performance indicators to measure progress and ROI.

The staggering loss of life on our roads demands immediate and transformative action. As leaders, we must rise to this challenge, reimagine safety from its core principles, and build resilient systems that deliver the material, year-over-year improvements necessary to end this preventable epidemic. The time to act is now, and leadership must pave the way. Let us, as leaders, commit to building a safer and more resilient future, together.