Last week, we brought the evidence back to Congress.

We’ve been to Washington D.C. many times since our son Magnus was killed. We’ve walked those halls carrying his story. We’ve shared the data. We’ve supported legislation. And we’ve returned once again knowing that progress in this system is slow, imperfect, and painful.

Over the past six months we’ve brought other families with us, parents who lost children, spouses who lost partners, siblings who lost someone they loved while walking, biking, or simply trying to get home. People who did everything right and were still killed by a system that treats traffic violence as acceptable and inevitable. 

When we traveled to Washington again this week, it wasn’t because we expected a sudden breakthrough. It was because the work will take consistent, constant pressure. And because the crisis we’re facing on our roads is only getting worse.

At the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, safety was the primary topic. We heard lawmakers say 40,000 deaths on our roadways more times than we can count. House members discussed proposed legislation that would require automatic emergency braking (AEB) and other advanced safety technologies in new vehicles, systems designed to detect pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users in real-world conditions. We learned this AEB legislation received the most letters of support of any bill proposed this year for this subcommittee. 

We are deeply grateful to Congressman Joe Neguse and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke for their continued leadership and support. We are especially thankful to Congresswoman Clarke for speaking so powerfully at the hearing, for honoring Magnus, for elevating the data gathered by The White Line, and for making clear that these deaths are preventable and unacceptable.

You can watch Congresswoman Clarke’s testimony from the hearing here: 

 

America is living through a traffic safety health crisis unlike anything we’ve seen in decades. 2023 was the deadliest year for pedestrians and cyclists in 45 years. Crashes are rising in nearly every state. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has warned that traffic deaths remain at “persistently high levels,” even though fewer people are commuting than before the pandemic. Distracted driving deaths jumped nearly 12% in a single year.

This is a daily threat to families and communities across the country. Since Magnus’ death, we’ve met countless families living the same nightmare. Their stories differ in detail, but not in outcome. A driver was distracted. Impaired. Reckless. A pedestrian or cyclist was doing everything right. And a life was stolen that didn’t have to be.

This is happening every day, all over America. The brutal truth is that humans fail. We speed. We look at our phones. We drive tired, impaired, or overconfident. Our infrastructure fails too. Streets designed for speed instead of safety, crosswalks painted onto multi-lane roads, stop signs that don’t slow anyone down. Fixing all of that will take decades and resources we don’t have.

But technology can move faster. It can compensate for human mistakes. It can see what drivers miss. It can react faster than human reflexes. And when it’s designed correctly, it can save lives.

Safety features like lane-keep assist, automatic emergency braking (AEB), and blind-spot detection are not luxury add-ons. They are life-saving necessities. AEB alone reduces rear-end crashes by more than 50%. Blind-spot monitoring cuts lane-change injuries by nearly a quarter. These systems already exist. They are proven. They are ready.

And yet, in the United States, they are still optional.

Carmakers continue to sell vehicles without them. Insurers still treat them as upgrades. Buyers are encouraged to skip them to save a few hundred dollars. The result is predictable, people keep dying. That is why we must continue to show up.

We’ve seen legislation proposed before. But what gives us cautious optimism is continuity. The fact that this issue is still being discussed and brought forward in new venues. That the data we’ve gathered through The White Line is being cited. That the stories of families, not just ours, are being acknowledged as evidence, not anecdotes.

Progress doesn’t come from one hearing or one bill. It comes from persistence. From continuing to show up with facts, with stories, and with the refusal to accept preventable deaths as normal.

We don’t know what 2026 will bring. We know that meaningful change can be slow. We know that powerful interests resist it. And we know that every delay carries a human cost. But we also know this, showing up matters.

Every time a lawmaker hears these stories and data points. Every time the conversation shifts from “accidents” to prevention. Every time safety technology is framed as a standard, not an option. These moments add up.

Magnus’ death was preventable. So were the deaths of so many others whose families now stand beside us. We will keep showing up in 2026, not because it’s easy, but because accepting the status quo is not an option.

The technology exists. The evidence is clear. And the lives at stake are real. We’re not done trying.

Jill & Michael White