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Holiday Season Road Deaths Prompt Safety Coalition to Call on States and Congress to Enact Stronger Traffic Safety Laws
November 30, 2009In response to the high-risk road travel holiday season and the record number of families traveling by car, a coalition of national and state medical, safety and business representatives gathered today at Christiana Hospital to encourage safe driving and urge lawmakers to pass strong traffic safety laws. Each year nearly 40,000 people die and two million more are injured in highway crashes in the U.S. The December holiday season typically sees a higher incidence of traffic crashes, deaths and injuries. Most at risk are novice teen drivers for whom highway crashes are the leading cause of death and disabling injury nationwide. Each year more than 6400 die in crashes involving a teen driver. Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) spoke about legislation he is co-sponsoring, the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act (H.R. 1895), which sets minimum standards for state graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws. Research shows that comprehensive GDL laws dramatically reduce deaths and injuries among young beginning drivers and those who share the road with them. Full release.