The National Safety Council (NSC) recently named Mark Chung vice president of its Roadway Safety Practice. Chung most recently served as chief marketing officer and general manager at SAE International (formerly known as the Society of Automotive Engineers), an engineering professionals association and standards-setting organization.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mark to NSC, where his experience will help position us for additional growth and impact in the roadway safety space,” said NSC President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin in a statement. “As transportation continues to evolve, technology and new forms of mobility will play key roles in eliminating roadway deaths. We look forward to leveraging Mark’s expertise throughout that evolution.”  

“We lose 100 people on our roadways on an average day, and we know that number is unacceptable,” Martin continued.

The NSC’s roadway safety efforts encompass consumer passenger vehicles, as well as light-duty vehicle fleets and motor carriers. Chung will be responsible for leading roadway safety initiatives at the NSC, including the group’s defensive driving programs and its Road to Zero Coalition, a national effort with 1,500 other roadway safety organizations to eliminate roadway deaths by 2050.

“I’m excited to join NSC and leverage my business and marketing experience to advance roadway safety for all our stakeholders,” Chung said. “The future of mobility depends on us keeping safety at the core of everything we do. I am committed to ensuring NSC leads that conversation, as well as the work to eliminate preventable injuries and deaths on the road.”

Recent Road to Zero initiatives have included the NSC’s “Our Driving Concern” program, an employer traffic safety program partially funded by the Texas Department of Transportation and a companion employer traffic safety program in Oklahoma. Our Driving Concern provides educational materials and training opportunities and to help employers engage their employees in safe driving behaviors.

Transportation incidents, especially motor vehicle crashes, are responsible for high numbers of fatalities and injuries, and employers, along with federal and state governments, have ongoing concerns about transportation safety. More than 29,000 workers in the United States died in work-related motor vehicle crashes from 2003–2018, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

NIOSH recently published research concluding that corporate fleet safety management practices like driver training, fatigue risk management, in-vehicle monitoring systems (IVMSs), and strong mobile phone policies can reduce the number and severity of motor vehicle crashes.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should cite employers that fail to address distracted driving hazards and all employers’ strong cell phone policies prohibiting the use of portable electronic devices while driving company-owned vehicles, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently concluded in a report on a fatal crash involving a company-leased car.

The NSC is a not-for-profit organization that includes occupational safety and health professionals but also advocates for safety in the home and on roadways. The NSC also organizes the National Safety Congress & Expo, an annual professional conference and trade show. In response to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the NSC has organized a virtual Congress & Expo for March 3–5, 2021.