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Safe Streets Week Day 1

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Last year, 1,686 people left for a destination in North Carolina and never made it home. Another 115,009 were seriously injured in a traffic crash in our state.

Traffic crashes are a (top 3) leading cause of death for North Carolinians ages 1 – 44 (Source: NC Department of Health and Human Services).

These numbers are discouraging. But our goal this Safe Streets is to instill hope, because these tragedies are preventable.

There is a growing movement all over the world and in North Carolina, calling for an end to preventable traffic violence. People everywhere are waking up to realize that we don’t have to keep doing business as usual.

For too long, we’ve mentally accepted that crashes just happen. We’ve accepted that our freedom to go to the grocery store, to commute to work, or visit a loved one, comes with an inherent cost – a risk of being seriously hurt or killed in a crash.

This week, we’ll set the record straight. Traffic crashes are preventable. No loss of life on our roads is acceptable. We know how to save lives and prevent road deaths – through the Safe Systems Approach.

 

Source: FHWA

 

The Safe Systems Approach works by creating a transportation system that accommodates human mistakes and reduces the impact energy on human bodies.

Using the Safe Systems Approach, Spain has reduced their road deaths by 80% and Sweden has reduced their road deaths by 67%.

 

For more information on Safe Systems, click here (Source: FHWA).

 

Last year, 116,695 families’ lives were forever changed by a traffic death or serious injury. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

North Carolinians deserve the right to vibrant, lively communities.

North Carolinians deserve freedom and mobility without fear of getting hurt.

No one should be killed going from A to B on an otherwise normal day.

This is a preventable public health crisis. It’s something we will change.

 

Dedication

 



 

Today is dedicated to AnnaLeah (17) and Mary Karth (13), who were killed in a underride crash with a semi-truck. A stronger underride guard would have prevented their vehicle from going underneath the truck.

 

Read AnnaLeah and Mary’s story

 

Additional Content

 

Daily Trivia Challenge

How much do you know about road safety? Take our daily 5 question trivia quiz to find out!



 


Start the challenge

 

Social Media Content


 

Group Discussion

Short presentation for staff meetings, classes, or group discussions.

 

Take Action

There are 18 communities in North Carolina that have committed to Vision Zero, a program to eliminate roadway deaths and serious injuries.

Check out the North Carolina Vision Zero Communities.

 

Is your community on the list? If not consider contacting your local municipal leaders or transportation department and urge them to commit to Vision Zero.

Feedback & Input Survey

Tell us what you think

Walk in Your Community Day / Walk to School Day

“Mama look! A butterfly!” She giggles and points as a bright yellow butterfly dances past. It stops to sip nectar from a small flower near the sidewalk. You hadn’t noticed that flower before. You smile and pat her backpack as you continue down the sidewalk. The cars passing can’t possibly notice that flower – or the Cardinal that cheeps at the two of you from a branch above. 

The air feels cool this time of the morning. You breathe in deeply and feel a shift in the weight on your shoulders. A gentle easing. You needed that. 

As you approach the next intersection, she turns to you smiling. “Almost there!” She presses the crosswalk button while looking up at the sky. “That one looks like a shark Mama,” she says as she points above. 

“Ah, I see it! Shark!” you say as you wait for the light. “Ok, what do we do now?” you ask as traffic begins to slow. 

She grabs your hand and starts looking back and forth down the road. “Hold hands. Look both ways. Listen!”

As you make your way across together, you think to yourself that school drop-off has never been so sweet.


For many North Carolina families, school looks very different this fall. Whether your child is meeting in a classroom or settling into lessons from home, we invite you to join us for Walk in Your Community/Walk to School Day on October 7, 2020.

Each year, thousands of North Carolina kids participate in International Walk to School Day. From the famous Walking School Bus to large parades and everything in between, communities across the state find ways to celebrate walking to school. 

Photo by NCDOT

Walking one mile to and from school each day is two-thirds of the recommended sixty minutes of physical activity a day.

National Center for Safe Routes to School

How to Participate

Walk to School

  1. If your child is attending school in person, make a plan to walk there on October 7. Registered school events in North Carolina are listed on the Walk Bike to School site, but you do not have to walk with an officially registered event to participate. If your child’s school is not holding an official event, consider inviting a few of your child’s friends or other neighbors in your area. 
  2. If you live far away, pick a parking spot within a mile of the school and do the last leg of the trip on foot. By practicing the route to school with your child, you teach her/him safety and health skills that they will carry for life.  
  3. To plan a Walk to School Day event at your school, visit the National Walk Bike to School site at http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/plan/how-to-plan/

In 1969 about 48% of students ages 5-14 walked or biked to school but as of 2009 this number has dropped to just 13%.

National Center for Safe Routes to School

Walk in your Community

This year, for North Carolina kids who aren’t attending in-person school or are unable to walk to school, we have adapted Walk to School Day to include Walk in Your Community Day. To participate, kids and their grown-ups can go on a walk at any place of their choice. Share pictures of your walk online and join the conversation with #walkinyourcommunity. 

Physical activity can positively impact academic achievement, student morning energy levels and attention, truancy and absenteeism, and can improve schools and their communities through social bonding and community building.

North Carolina Safe Routes to School