The first annual Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day was held on October 10, 2001. Its goal was and remains today to deliver messages to the public about the major causes of transportation fatalities - chiefly highway fatalities - and their avoidance, in an upbeat fashion. To achieve this goal organizations continue to be encouraged to have annual programs and be held individually or commemorated with state and local events across the country. As appropriate state and local events are encouraged to be coordinated and support activities included in states’ Strategic Highway Safety Plans.
A national steering committee provides program direction and information for a web site which includes how to hold an event, material available and who to contact for assistance. The steering committee consists of interested partnering organizations.
In the fall of 2006 the Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) became the manager of the web site for the program.
National, state and local organizations both public and private that have an interest in the program and reducing fatalities on the nation's highways are encourage to contact the T&DI at pbfday@asce.org and express their level of interest.
TTo heighten consciousness about what people can do - and what official steps they should take - to reduce transportation fatalities and accidents on American highways, roads and streets by calling attention to reducing fatalities on one specific day and also with other traffic safety events held during the year.
Larry Emig, P.E., a now retired Kansas DOT staffer and member of Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day® founding organization, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), conceived the idea. Supported by Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary E. Dean Carlson, then president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Emig and NSPE gathered together a "who's-who" of major transportation organizations for the event. The organizations included the U.S. Department of Transportation (Represented agencies - Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration & Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Road Information Program (TRIP), the Roadway Safety Foundation, AAA, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, 3M Corporation, the National Association of County Engineers, the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, the Governors Highway Safety Association along with other organizations supporting the idea.
1801 Alexander Bell Dr., Reston, VA 20191 | www.tanddi.org