Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to summer but also one of the deadliest weekends of the year on the nation's roads.
The weekend is a longer, enjoyable chance to get away from the routine and enjoy a road trip for many people. The sad truth, however, is that hundreds won’t return home.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety President Cathy Chase.
| Submitted
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety President Cathy Chase tells DOT Newswire that there are several ways to reduce the odds of creating an unhappy memory on Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day ranked second in traffic fatalities to only the Fourth of July, according to the most recent information available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on people killed in crashes during holiday periods from 2019:
• 437 crash deaths during New Year’s.
• 465 crash deaths during Memorial Day.
• 515 crash deaths during the Fourth of July holiday.
• 451 crash deaths during Labor Day.
• 417 crash deaths during Thanksgiving.
• 140 crash deaths during Christmas.
“Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety urges all motorists never to drive while drunk, drugged, distracted or drowsy. Additionally, drivers should obey posted speed limits,” Chase said. “Research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that even modest increases in speed can have devastating consequences during a crash. Passengers can do their part by not engaging in any behavior that takes the driver’s attention away from the driving task.
“Advocates also urges all vehicle occupants to buckle up, every ride, no matter how long or short,” she said. “Seat belts are the first line of defense against serious injury or death when crashes happen. Unbuckled passengers are more likely to be ejected and also become a danger to all inside a vehicle."
Roads will be packed this weekend as AAA estimates more than 39 million people are expected to drive 50 miles or more from home.
“The predicted increase means miles traveled by car may reach near pre-COVID-19 levels,” Advocates reports. “This forecast coupled with the announcement by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] that nearly 43,000 people died on U.S. roadways in 2021 must serve as a blaring cautionary alarm to all those who will be driving, biking, walking or rolling this coming weekend. Additionally, our nation’s leaders on the federal and state levels need to take immediate action on proven solutions to reverse this deadly trend.”
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety offers five steps that can save lives this weekend and all year:
Motorists must drive sober and alert and obey traffic safety laws at all times. All vehicle occupants must always buckle up, including making certain child passengers are properly restrained. All road users must be vigilant and aware of their roadway environment and prioritize safety.
The U.S. Department of Transportation must move quickly to require proven lifesaving technology in new vehicles, Advocates argues. Collision-avoidance technology, known as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), has been demonstrated to significantly reduce or mitigate crashes.
With pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on the rise (13% and 5% respectively in 2021), the minimum performance standards which will be issued by U.S. DOT for ADAS need to account for vulnerable road user safety when appropriate, such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and bicyclist detection, Advocates says.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law last November, includes ADAS requirements as well as directives for technology to prevent impaired driving and keep children from dying or suffering injury in hot cars. While “hot car” deaths and injuries are a year-round tragedy, rising temperatures at the start of summer underscore the urgency of providing a solution to this problem.
Overdue regulations must be completed, Advocates says. With unbuckled fatalities and speeding as two of the major reasons for skyrocketing fatalities, the group says there is no excuse for inaction on the rear seat belt reminder rule, which is seven years overdue and has been required in the European Union since 2019, and on a speed limiter requirement for commercial motor vehicles for which NHTSA granted a petition in 2011, according to the Highway safety organization.
Advocates’ annual Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws identifies 16 common-sense countermeasures that should be passed by all 50 states, including primary enforcement laws to increase seat belt use and curb distracted driving as well as laws requiring ignition interlock devices (IID) for all drunk driving offenders.
To reduce crashes, states and localities should expand the use of automated enforcement programs, which when implemented effectively are proven to reduce speeding and red-light running, Chase says. Moreover, to create a safer roadway environment for all, Advocates urges states to revise rules for setting speed limits to account for pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users.
Some states are safer places to drive than others, Chase told DOT Newswire.
“Advocates produces a report every year rating each state on their progress, or lack thereof, toward enactment of 16 proven traffic safety laws,” she said. “The report puts these laws into the categories of occupant protection, child passenger safety, teen driving, impaired driving and distracted driving.
“The 2022 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws assigned eight states in the ‘green’ category [California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington] showing significant advancement toward adopting all 16 recommended laws. Thirty-one states received a yellow rating, indicating improvement is needed.
She added, “11 states [Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming] were given a ‘red’ rating, meaning they are dangerously behind in the adoption of these optimal traffic safety laws. With 390 missing laws identified in the report, it is clear that state lawmakers have an abundance of opportunities to improve roadway safety.”
Country lanes are the most dangerous, Chase said.
“The latest report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration looked at fatality rates on interstates and local roadways and found that rural roadways in these categories experienced higher fatality rates last year compared to urban roadways in the same categories,” she said.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety describes itself as “an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer.”
Its stated goal is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries and contain costs.
