The U.S. Senate has confirmed John DeLeeuw as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, where he will serve the remainder of a term ending Dec. 31, 2026.
The National Safety Council welcomed the confirmation, with CEO Lorraine Martin saying the organization looks forward to working with DeLeeuw “to improve safety on our nation’s roadways, where too many preventable deaths occur each year.”
Road deaths trending down
The confirmation comes as early data points to a significant drop in U.S. traffic fatalities. The National Safety Council estimates 37,810 motor vehicle crash deaths in the United States in 2025, a 12 per cent decrease from 2024.
That decline follows nearly a decade in which annual U.S. motor vehicle crash deaths held at or above 40,000, according to the council. The organization says the figures underscore the need to sustain multi-stakeholder efforts to make roads safer.
Transportation remains top cause of workplace death
For Canadian safety professionals tracking cross-border trends, the U.S. data carries relevance. Transportation incidents remain the leading cause of on-the-job death in the United States, accounting for 37 per cent of all work-related fatalities in 2023, according to the National Safety Council.
The council’s Road to Zero Coalition works with public and private partners, including the NTSB, to identify major hazards, build evidence-based solutions, and advance recommendations aimed at reducing road deaths.
The National Safety Council represents more than 13,000 member companies with workers at nearly 41,000 U.S. worksites, including companies in the transportation sector.
