Tag Archives: Safe Streets Benefit Everyone
Safe Streets Week Day 6
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If you were riding with a friend and they started using their phone while driving, what would you do? Would you say anything?
How do you talk to your boyfriend who drives too fast? Or your sister who insists she can drive after having a few drinks?
It’s hard to speak up when someone is unsafe. Telling someone to change their behavior can be uncomfortable. But it can also save your life.
One of the most dangerous things we do regularly is climb into a car to go somewhere. When you’re in a car as a passenger, you rely on the driver to keep you safe. It’s your right to speak up if they are putting you in danger.
This makes you an Empowered Passenger. You have the power to advocate for safety anytime you are in a vehicle.
Daily Trivia Challenge
How much do you know about speaking up?
Take our daily 5 question trivia quiz to find out!
Start the challenge
Social Media Content
Feedback & Input Survey
Safe Streets Week Day 1
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Last year, 1,732 people left for a destination in North Carolina and never made it home. Another 113,602 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, 115,334 families’ lives were forever changed by a traffic death or serious injury on North Carolina roads. 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 moving around their community on an otherwise normal day.
This is a preventable public health crisis. It’s something we will change.
Activities
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.