Guest Column, Ginger Wilson
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End The Streak campaign launches ahead of November 7
The last fatality free day on Texas roadways was November 7, 2000. Since that date, over 70,000 innocent lives have been lost. That’s thousands of mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children who have died in senseless crashes.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) End The Streak campaign focuses on educating the traveling public on driving more responsibly in an effort to end the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways. Texans can play a vital role in helping end fatal crashes with simple habits such as wearing a seatbelt (every rider, every trip), driving the speed limit, getting rid of distractions in the vehicle and never driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
TxDOT has dedicated $600 million in safety improvements along our roadways for 2020 and 2021, which are aimed at changing this disturbing trend of deaths, which average out to 10 per day. Some of the improvements include widening roads, adding rumble strips along more center lines and shoulders that alert drivers to slow down of if they are veering out of their lanes, adding reinforced shoulders and select turn lanes, along with implementing new technology that will increase safety on the entire system of roads.
In 2019, the leading causes of traffic deaths were speeding, distracted driving, failure to stay in a single lane and impairment due to alcohol and drugs – all preventable factors. In 2019 alone, 715 people were killed while speeding, 1 out of 4 deaths were caused by drunk driving, distracted driving was the cause of 379 deaths, 661 pedestrians were killed and 925 unbuckled people died in crashes.
TxDOT encourages all drivers to practice safe driving habits as we are all responsible to keep ourselves, our families and our fellow drivers safe.
For more information, contact TxDOT Public Information Officer Ginger Wilson at 940.937.7288.
