Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters urged board members of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to boost efforts to improve highway safety in view of an apparent lack of funding.

She said it appears Congress is "crashing toward another extension" of the existing highway and transit law reauthorization. "I hope we can get this resolved," she said. "We simply have to have a six-year bill at responsible funding levels."

Peters said work on congestion relief and environmental enhancement is going reasonably well. But on the safety front the outlook has not gotten brighter.

"In safety, we're absolutely not where collectively we want to be," she said. With more than 43,000 Americans losing their lives on the roads each year, "It's a very sad statistic."

Although the fatality rate remained stable last year, actual deaths are up by about 10 percent, she said.

"Highway fatalities have increased for five consecutive years. That's unacceptable to President Bush, to DOT Secretary (Norman) Mineta and to me as well."

The fatality picture includes motorcycle fatalities, which are up 11 percent, SUV fatalities and deaths in work zones, she said.

Meanwhile, DOT is about to launch a campaign against drowsy driving, which can be just as deadly as drunken driving, Peters said.

"Driving while you're severely fatigued is just as bad as driving when you're severely impaired,” she said.

Peters also urged uniform seat-belt laws across the nation, meaning drivers can be ticketed for not being buckled up and don't have to be stopped for some other violation first.

Speaking of work zones, Peters says FHWA is taking into consideration the "constructive feedback" offered by state transportation departments on some proposed work zone and mobility rules.

"We worked hard to address the comments you made," she said.

In the area of congestion, Peters said that polls show the public will tolerate "a measure of congestion" but people get fed up if they can't consistently make a specific trip in a unit of time they can plan around.

"There isn't a single silver bullet that will help the challenge of congestion. We do need more roads ... sometimes, it is about asphalt, concrete and steel."