By HOPE YEN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is pledging to tackle a rising U.S. epidemic of car fatalities.

Buttigieg is pushing a broad-based government strategy released Thursday aimed at limiting the speed of cars, redesigning roads to better protect bicyclists and pedestrians and boosting car safety features such as automatic emergency braking.

Buttigieg says he envisions cities and states taking interim steps with federal support.

Buttigieg indicated to The Associated Press that new federal data being released next week will show another spike in traffic fatalities through the third quarter of 2021.

The transportation secretary calls the magnitude of deaths unacceptable.