Americans
travel more than 1 trillion miles during the
summer months – that’s 10.5 million
more miles per month than other months of the
year.*
All those
miles take a tragic toll. On average, 269 more
people die in traffic fatalities each month during
the summer than in other months of the year.
Of the 25 deadliest days on American roads in
the past five years, 20 of them fell during the
101 days from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day,
including four of the top five.**
You can survive – and
enjoy – the 101 deadliest days on the road.
Know the dangers and develop a family-based strategy
to stay safe.
* Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, 2001
** NHTSA,
1998-2002 data
Improper Use of Restraints
Safety belt use reached
an all-time high in 2003, but failure to buckle
up by 1 in 5 drivers still contributes heavily
to deaths. Children of parents who don’t
wear seat belts are at greater risk of dying
on the road, being unrestrained themselves.
Child safety seats have reduced child deaths dramatically,
but up to 75% of child restraints are improperly
installed or used. Parents are moving children
out of child safety seats and booster seats too
young, with 83% of children ages 4-8 inappropriately
restrained in adult seat belts. Children should
never ride in the front seat, yet one in three
children killed in motor vehicle crashes were riding
in the front seat.
 More
about use of restraints…
Source: NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts 2003;
Partners
for Child Passenger Safety, 2000
Alcohol
Alcohol-related deaths
account for 41% of total traffic fatalities or
an average of one every 30 minutes. Two of every
three children killed in alcohol-related crashes
were riding in a car with a driver who had been
drinking – but who
was not necessarily drunk. Nearly a third of teen
drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes
had been drinking. More than two-thirds of them
were not wearing seat belts.
More
about the effects of alcohol…
Source: Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Fatigue
Fatigue impairs driving in similar ways as alcohol:
It impairs reaction time, vigilance, attention
and information processing. In the past five years,
1.35 million drivers involved in a car crash attributed
it to drowsiness.
Fatigue-related crashes
are likely to be serious and occur on high-speed
roads, and the driver often does not attempt
to avoid the crash. During summer, families with
children were 6 times more likely to drive home
from a long day trip while fatigued than people
without children – 57% said they
are likely to drive when fatigued to get home from
a weekend getaway and 59% said they are likely
to drive fatigued to get to a destination in one
night.
More
about driving while fatigued…
Source: NHTSA, March 2003; Progressive.com
Car maintenance
Neglected maintenance leads to 2,600 deaths annually,
nearly 100,000 disabling injuries and more than
$2 billion in lost wages, medical expenses and
property damage. Under-inflating or over-inflating
tires can result in serious injuries. Tire care
is especially critical in warm weather because
long trips, heavy loads, higher speeds and higher
temperatures all put additional stress on tires.
More
about maintaining your car…
Source: NHTSA, Automotive Aftermarket Industry
Assn.
May 19, 2003
Speed
Most crashes occur at 40 mph or less, but most
fatal crashes occur at top speeds. Speeding creates
an economic cost to society of $40.5 billion per
year. In 2002, speeding was a contributing factor
in 31% of all fatal crashes, and 13,713 lives were
lost in speeding-related crashes. At least eight
in 10 drivers admit to speeding at least monthly
on each road type. Men are 25% more likely to speed
than women.
More
about the dangers of speeding…
Source: NHTSA 2002, National Safe Driving Test
Survey, 2003
Distractions
More than 1.5 million police-reported crashes
involved some kind of driver distraction. Most
drivers admit to engaging in one or more activity
while driving, including eating (59%), talking
on a cell phone (37%) and even reading (14%).*
Other common distractions are talking to passengers
(81%), changing radio stations or CDs (66%) or
dealing with children in the backseat (24%).
Only one in four drivers perceives these behaviors
as distracting or dangerous. More than 7 million
drivers involved in a crash attribute it to distractions
and 292,000 attribute the cause to talking on a
cell phone.**
More
about driving distractions…
Source: *Mason-Dixon Drive for Life Poll, 2003,
** NHTSA, March 2003, National Survey |
