The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission is using images of actual crashes to show residents how, in just a matter of seconds, risky behavior behind the wheel can mean death or serious injury, according to WorldNow and KLFY.
There are key factors we can do to prevent those injuries, buckling up, wearing seat belts, eliminating risky behavior like speeding and driving, drinking and driving, and getting the word out to the kids, that's the most important thing, they're a large proportion of the injuries and fatalities that we see... says Dr. Todd Thoma an Emergency Room Physician.
State police troopers are continuing their efforts to get motorists to wear seat belts through the "Buckle Up, No Excuses" campaign.
In Tennessee state officials have finalized the Tennessee Strategic Highway Safety Plan, a first of its kind agreement with the goal of reducing the fatality rate on Tennessee's roads by 10 percent by the fiscal year 2008/09.
Five agencies - Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), Tennessee Department of Safety (TDOS), Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, and Governor's Highway Safety Office - were involved in creating the detailed plan.
Strategies include improving information systems; procedures and tools for keeping vehicles in proper lanes; improving intersection safety with new technology; special legislation; improving work zone safety; new training programs; and improving motor carrier safety, according to The City Paper.
In Maine according to Sgt. John Andrews of the East Providence Police Traffic Division, the department has received a $25,500 grant to pay for extra patrols to be utilized from now through September 2005. The money will allow for police officers to be assigned specifically to be on the lookout for, and to stop, impaired drivers.
The mobilization effort is part of the "You Drink & Drive.You Lose" campaign sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation Office on Highway Safety in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Andrews and officer Kevin Feeney wrote the grant.
According to press release from the Office on Highway Safety, someone dies in an alcohol-related crash once a week on average in Rhode Island, according to the The Pawtucket Times.
In Ohio - Gov. Bob Taft wants the leaders of Ohio's transportation and public safety departments to look at how the state can make highways safer.
Taft asked that a committee make recommendations for improvement and implement those suggestions.
Although Ohio has the fifth busiest highway network in the nation, the state lacks a coordinated safety program to fix its most dangerous routes, The Blade reported Sunday.
25% of drivers refuse to wear seat belts, and among pickup truck drivers, almost 70% don't buckle up.
