What is Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day?
Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day has been established to focus national attention on reducing traffic fatalities on American highways. Approximately 43,000 people die in traffic crashes every year. That's way too many. It's time we all got together to reduce that number. The goal is to encourage everyone - whether as a driver, passenger, pedestrian or cyclist - to take extra caution this October 10 to prevent crashes from occurring. Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day Partners also encourage everyone to practice save driving every day and include Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day information in other safety events and programs throughout the year.
What you do hope to accomplish?
First, it's important to educate the public about the problem and essential role they play in developing solutions. Many people would be surprised to learn that there is a traffic fatality every 12 minutes in this country and that motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death for everyone between two and 34 years old. But it's equally important to let people know how they can greatly reduce their risk of becoming a statistic by taking simple pro-active steps.
What is the most important thing people can do?
Drive as if your life depends on it. A high percentage of crashes are caused by driver error. It's most important that people pay careful attention when they drive and make use of safety equipment such as seat belts and air bags. Research shows that seat belts can reduce the risk of fatal injury to passenger car occupants by 55 percent yet approximately 20 percent of Americans still don’t buckle up. So wearing a seat belt is the easiest and most first important step. In 2006, NHTSA estimates 15,383 lives were saved by the use of seat belts. If all passenger vehicle occupants over 4 wore seat belts, an additional 5,441 lives could have been saved.
For children, it's extremely important never to place an infant seat in front of an air bag and to ensure that kids sit in an appropriate child safety seat until about 12 years old. Most people would be shocked to learn that more than 50 percent of the children under age 5 killed in crashes in 1999 were completely unrestrained. Moving forward to 2006, it is estimated that 425 children under age 5 were saved from wearing child restraints. It is also estimated that 8,325 lives were saved by child restraints from 1975 through 2006.
What are some other important elements?
Poor road conditions, obsolete designs and run off the road crashes contribute to highway deaths annually. In 2003 the FHWA reported that roadway departures accounted for 55% of all total fatalities (23,139) and 35% of injury crashes (740,000). The public needs to let their elected officials know that improving the safety of their local roads is an important priority for them. Developing better signage, removing hazards and creating turn lanes at busy intersections are just a few examples of how communities can make their roads safer.
They should also check vehicle maintenance on a regular basis, such as proper tire air pressure, so their vehicles will function at their highest capacity. Motorists should also replace worn windshield wipers and replace any burned out lights as quickly as possible. Slowing down in highway construction zones is another important piece of advice.
New advances in vehicle safety technology, such as air bags or anti-lock brakes, are continually developed, but the public needs to know how to utilize that technology correctly. Moreover, an educated public will be able to make more informed decisions about how to regulate and manage this new technology. For example, there are studies and a growing body of evidence that show cell phone use while driving can impair driving ability and should not be used while driving. Also, there are many cases where cell phones when used properly have no doubt saved lives when they were able to call for help.
Is this new safety day focused just on drivers?
Not at all. Everyone has an important role to play. People who use motorcycles, bicycles, scooters or in-lane skates should always wear an appropriate helmet. 4,810 motorcyclist fatalities occurred in 2006 and an additional 88,000 motorcycle riders were injured. All drivers also need to follow the rules of the road. Cyclists should signal with their arm before turning.
NHTSA estimates that helmets saved lives of 1,658 motorcyclists in 2006. If all motorcyclists had worn helmets, an additional 752 lives could have been saved. Reported helmet use rates for fatality injured motorcyclists in 2006 were 59percent for operators and 45 percent for passengers.
Nearly 80 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred at non-intersection locations in 1999. It was reported in 2006 that 4,784 pedestrian fatalities and 61,000 pedestrian injuries had occurred or on an average one pedestrian was killed every 110 minutes and one injured every nine minutes. Pedestrians should cross at intersections, and stop, and look left, right, left before crossing the street. Joggers should run against traffic.
Parents should not let children under 10 years old cross streets alone. Also, parents can work with school transportation officials to develop safer transportation policies, such as offering a presentation on proper bus safety for kindergarten and first grade students, creating safer student drop-off zones or increasing the number of crossing guards.
It seems like there are a number of different safety observances throughout the year. Will one more really make a difference? - That's a good question! Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day has the potential to bring together concerned individuals and parents, traffic safety organizations, government agencies, professional engineers, construction workers, and private industry to affect change. This program is a good fit to be included in states’ highway strategic safety plans.
The bottom line is that the number of people killed in traffic crashes every year has hit a plateau of about 43,000 and has remained steady for several years. However, we are pleased to report the reduction to 42,642 fatalities in 2006. To continue reducing the number of fatalities we need to decide we must make the necessary changes in behavior, roadway design and vehicles to improve safety and reduce the number of crashes.
The more we can educate the public about this nationwide epidemic, the more likely the day will come when we won't have to imagine a day with zero traffic fatalities. It can become a reality - but only if we as a nation commit to making traffic safety a top transportation priority.
Data provided to update this site was obtained from the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) website http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/cats/Index.aspx or http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/cats/listpublications.aspx?Id=C&ShowBy=DocType for publications.
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