Advocating for our safety recommendations is a key part of NTSB’s mission. Transportation accidents and crashes can be prevented, injuries reduced, and lives saved through the implementation of NTSB safety recommendations.
The Safety Advocacy Division leads the agency’s advocacy efforts and promotes the implementation of safety recommendations. We work with NTSB modal offices, the Office of Research and Engineering, and Safety Recommendations specialists to identify and communicate vital safety information and lessons learned from our investigations. We engage with advocacy and industry partners to improve transportation safety across all modes.
Advocacy Products & Information
Notable safety improvements we’ve helped achieve include:
Recreational Boating: implementation of alcohol-impaired boating laws, requirements for personal flotation devices, and requirements for boater education.
Impaired Driving: implementation of laws establishing administrative license revocation.
Occupant Protection:
- Child passenger safety laws requiring booster seat use and requiring that children ride, properly restrained by a child car seat or seat belt, in the back seat.
- Crashworthiness improvements across all modes, including the adoption of crash-resistant fuel tanks in helicopters.
- Seat belt laws – requiring that all occupants in all vehicles equipped with safety belts use them.
School bus safety: install three-point seat belts in school buses.
Fatigued driving: implementation of rules related to hours of service requirements for commercial trucking
Rail tank car integrity: regulations to upgrade shells in DOT-111 tank cars to ensure they don’t puncture and leak
Positive Train Control: regulations requiring full implementation of PTC of all railroads (and subsequent 100% implementation.
Fatigued flying: implementation of rules related to flight crew fatigue in Part 121 (scheduled airlines).
Weather Airplane Icing: improved certifications standards for airplanes certified for flight in icing conditions.
Fuel Tank Safety: implementation of our safety recommendations on fuel tank inerting systems and enactment of the FAA final rule related to the topic.
The NTSB Most Wanted List 1990-2023
For over 30 years the MWL highlighted transportation safety improvements that were needed to prevent accidents, reduce injuries, and save lives. We retired the MWL at the end of 2023. Visit the
MWL Archive to learn more about the history of the MWL.
Take Action Now!
Adopting NTSB safety recommendations will save lives. Advocacy plays a critical role in preventing accidents and crashes and saving lives. We can't do it alone though. We need your help to get the word out to promote the seriousness of transportation safety items and the need for improvements.
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