Important Points Concerning Your
Safety
- It is up to all of us to be responsible motorists. Driving safely sets a good
example for others, especially young people.
- Remember, traffic crashes and traffic citations increase insurance rates and drive up
costs for all vehicle owners, drivers, and operators.
- Exercise courtesy on the road, stay within speed limits, wear your safety belt, use
child safety seats correctly, and don't drive impaired.
Alcohol and Driving
Drinking and driving facts:
- More than 1.6 million drivers were arrested in 1992 for driving under the influence of
alcohol or drugs. That's an arrest rate of 1 for every 108 licensed drivers in the
U.S.
- An estimated 40 percent of all motorist can expect to be involved in an alcohol-related
traffic crash some time during their lives.
Speed
- Exceeding the posted limit or driving too fast for conditions is one of the most
prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. The human and economic sacrifice
is unacceptable.
- Few drivers view speeding as an immediate risk to their personal safety, but speeding
reduces a driver's ability to steer safely around curves on highways or objects in the
roadway. It extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle and increases the
distance a vehicle travels while a driver reacts to danger.
Use Child Safety Seats
- Motor vehicle crashes kill more children than any disease or other type of accident.
- Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in children over the age of one year.
- More that 2,000 infants in the U.S. are at serious risk of injury or death each year by
riding on adults' laps.
- Restraining children in safety seats can save countless lives as well as millions of
dollars in treating injuries.
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Effects and Costs of
Speeding
- Thirty-one percent of all fatal crashes were speed-related.
- Drivers involved in speed-related fatal crashes were more likely to have a history of
traffic violations.
- Ninety percent of fatalities in speed-related crashes occurred on non-Interstate
highways.
- The chances of death or serious injury double for every 10 mph over 50 mph a vehicle
travels.
- Only 19 percent of drivers involved in speed-related fatal crashes were using safety
belts.
- Of all drivers involved in speed-related fatal crashes, 56 percent were under the
influence of alcohol.
- Passenger cars use approximately 50% more fuel traveling at 75 mph than they do at 55
mph.
- The cost of speed-related crashes is estimated at $24 billion each year, or $744 per
second.
Special Notation
The primary aim of traffic law enforcement is to reduce
traffic crashes, injuries, and death through fair, impartial, and reasonable enforcement
of traffic laws. Buckle
Up!
You can reduce this tragic tool: obey traffic safety rules, drive
defensively, keep your vehicle in good mechanical condition, and wear safety belts.
Don't drink and drive. Here's why you should Drive Safely:
- Lifetime odds are 1-in-3 that you will be seriously injured in a
traffic crash and 1-in-100 that you will be killed.
- More that 40,000 people die each year in traffic crashes.
- Traffic accidents account for more fatalities each year than homicides,
deaths from work-related accidents or airplane crashes.
- More than half of all road-related fatalities are automobile passengers
who might have lived if they had used safety belts.
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