Ex-road safety chief worries agency won't be Trump priority

Ex-road safety chief worries agency won't be Trump priority

DETROIT (AP) — The outgoing head of the government agency charged with keeping highways safe is worried that auto safety won't be a priority for the incoming Trump administration.

Mark Rosekind, who leaves his job leading the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday, said during an interview with The Associated Press the agency has taken steps to modernize and change its relationship with automakers so they try to stop problems rather than reacting to deaths and injuries.

Rosekind, a Ph.D. sleep expert drafted from investigating airplane crashes and other mishaps, said the agency has come a long way from the days when failed connect clues about faulty General Motors ignition switches and was too accepting of Takata's explanations for lethal exploding air bags.

By nearly all accounts, Rosekind has accomplished a lot, sometimes cooperating with the industry and sometimes hammering misbehaving automakers with fines.

During his tenure, the agency has changed from being cozy with automakers to more of a "cop on the beat" said Sean Kane, a safety researcher and frequent agency critic.

When you started, NHTSA was under siege for the GM ignition switch deaths and Takata's air bag inflators.

Autonomous vehicles can lead to zero fatalities.

There have been some incidents involving new gear shifters that people don't understand and vehicles in the wrong gear rolling over people.

Unfortunately reactive means you've got to wait until somebody gets hurt or killed before you're stepping in, the way the system is now.