Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has sent a letter to the governors of all 50 states, urging them to promote public safety by removing any politically charged and distracting displays from public roads, including LGBT rainbow crosswalks.
“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork. Today I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions,” Duffy stated in a press release, emphasizing the importance of focusing on traffic safety amid high traffic fatalities.
“Far too many Americans die each year to traffic fatalities to take our eye off the ball. USDOT stands ready to help communities across the country make their roads safer and easier to navigate,” he added.
The letter, also sent to District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González-Colón, requests that governors comply with the Federal Highway Administration’s initiative titled “Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies,” or “SAFE ROADS.”
“The SAFE ROADS national initiative will focus on the non-freeway arterials within your state, including safety and operation at intersections and along segments, consistent and recognizable traffic control devices including crosswalk and intersection markings, and orderly use of the right-of-way that is kept free from distractions,” Duffy wrote.
“These routes are where more than half of roadway fatalities in America occur and deserve enhanced attention.”
Duffy highlighted statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), noting that an estimated 39,345 people died on U.S. roads last year, a figure he called “unacceptable,” despite a slight improvement over 2023.
The Federal Highway Administration added that “almost half of roadway fatalities in the U.S. in 2023 occurred on ‘non-freeway/expressway arterials.’”
Each governor is given 60 days to identify needed safety improvements and to “develop a list of arterial segments, including intersections, with the highest safety, operational, or compliance concerns” to be addressed by the end of the next fiscal year.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Duffy explicitly singled out rainbow crosswalks and other potentially distracting political imagery, stating, “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks. Political banners have no place on public roads. I’m reminding recipients of [DOT] roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple.”
