A Plane Crash Gets an NTSB Investigation. A Car Crash Gets a Shrug.
Coast Guard boats at the scene of the crash, January 30, 2025. (Photo via the United States Coast Guard.)
Last Wednesday evening, an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter while preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport. The crash into the Potomac River claimed the lives of everyone on board, making it the deadliest air disaster in the United States in over two decades.
In the hours that followed, the response was immediate and comprehensive. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) mobilized its full investigative team. Federal, state and local agencies worked together in a coordinated effort. Divers braved frigid waters, search-and-rescue crews combed the wreckage, and forensic experts analyzed debris.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made it clear: “What happened yesterday should not have happened. It should not have happened. When Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land in airplanes and at their destination. That did not happen yesterday. That’s unacceptable.” He vowed that no excuses would be accepted and that every mistake would be scrutinized to prevent future tragedies.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy underscored the agency’s commitment: “This is a whole-of-government effort.” A preliminary accident report is expected within 30 days, and a full report will detail systemic failures, safety recommendations and regulatory improvements to ensure this type of accident never happens again. The entire process is methodical, rigorous and taken with the utmost seriousness.
Public safety should always be treated with this level of seriousness. This was a devastating tragedy — one that has left a lasting impact on countless lives. A responsible government must learn from every plane crash to ensure that similar disasters do not happen again. That's what we expect.
Every single day in the United States, more than 100 people die in car crashes — the equivalent of a plane falling from the sky every 24 hours.
Over 40,000 people lose their lives on our roadways annually, yet no federal safety board investigates. No transportation secretary makes a statement declaring the deaths unacceptable. No changes are required before the next tragedy occurs.
Instead, we have police reports that assign blame to individuals, insurance claims that process payouts, and a public that shrugs at the inevitability of it all.
If an NTSB-like approach can prevent future plane crashes, why aren’t we applying the same level of scrutiny to car crashes?
The reality is that we can — but it won’t come from the federal government. It can't. It has to happen at the local level.
Beyond Blame: Learning From Crashes To Prevent Future Ones
The "Beyond Blame" report, which we released this past October, highlights an approach that cities can use to systematically learn from crashes, just as the NTSB does for aviation. Instead of simply assigning blame to individual drivers, pedestrians or cyclists, the focus is on identifying the design failures that made the crash possible.
The Strong Towns Crash Analysis Studio model offers a framework for local governments to approach car crashes the way aviation professionals approach plane crashes. These Studios have shown time and time again that the root causes of car crashes aren’t just driver mistakes, but high-speed road design, dangerous intersections, inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, poor visibility and other systemic engineering failures.
Edward Erfurt, who has been helping communities conduct Crash Analysis Studios, describes the emotional toll of reviewing crash after crash:
Each of these crashes represents the worst day in the lives of at least two families and a community. Everyone impacted is understandably highly emotional. The Studio process requires a little detective work where you have to attempt to understand the conditions of the location of the crash from the perspective of those involved. This means reliving the experience of these fateful events over and over again.
Through these Studios, Strong Towns has identified actionable responses that cities can implement immediately. None of these responses require massive federal programs or billion-dollar investments. Many can be done with nothing more than paint and cones. Yet, most cities fail to act — not because they lack the resources, but because they lack the urgency to change.
A Local Approach to Crash Investigations
We already have a proven model for learning from fatal crashes. It’s time for cities to adopt it. Here’s what needs to happen:
Make traffic safety a core responsibility — Empower a dedicated person or team to intervene in road designs and advocate for immediate safety improvements.
Establish a Crash Response Team — Create a team tasked with reviewing fatal crashes, documenting design failures and making public recommendations.
Conduct Crash Analysis Studios — Instead of treating crashes as isolated incidents, examine them holistically, identifying multiple contributing factors and proposing systemic fixes.
Use quick, tactical solutions — Many fatal crashes occur in places where safety fixes could be implemented tomorrow. Cities should use temporary barriers, lane adjustments and improved crosswalks to make immediate improvements while planning long-term solutions.
Hold decision-makers accountable — Just as aviation regulators are expected to respond to safety failures, mayors, city councils and public works departments must be held responsible for preventable roadway deaths.
The NTSB’s mission is simple: Make sure no one else dies from the same mistakes. Why should our approach to roadway deaths be any different?
If your community doesn’t have a crash analysis process, demand that local leaders start one. If your city isn’t learning from its mistakes, ask why. Strong Towns has already developed the tools cities need to act today.
To learn more, read the "Beyond Blame" report and share it with your local leaders. If you want to take action in your own community, consider booking a Strong Towns event to kickstart that conversation.
The mindset we’ve accepted — that plane crashes are unacceptable tragedies but car crashes are just part of life — is broken. We can do better.
Charles Marohn (known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues) is the founder and president of Strong Towns and the bestselling author of “Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis.” With decades of experience as a land use planner and civil engineer, Marohn is on a mission to help cities and towns become stronger and more prosperous. He spreads the Strong Towns message through in-person presentations, the Strong Towns Podcast, and his books and articles. In recognition of his efforts and impact, Planetizen named him one of the 15 Most Influential Urbanists of all time in 2017 and 2023.