SECRETARY SLATER CAUTIONS MOTORISTS TO DRIVE SAFELY DURING PEAK TRAVEL SEASON |
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Topics: Rodney E. Slater
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NHTSA
August 21, 1997
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 46-97
Thursday, August 21, 1997
Contact: Liz Neblett
Tel. No. (202) 366-9550
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater today cautioned motorists to pay special attention to safety as the Labor Day holiday weekend approaches and the nation faces the peak travel season on its highways.
"Safety is President Clinton's highest transportation priority, and I want to remind motorists to keep safe driving in mind because Americans put more miles on their motor vehicles during August than during any other month," Secretary Slater said. "As summer vacations draw to an end, remember that safety is everyone's responsibility."
According to the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), traffic crashes in the United States claim one life every 12 minutes. Traffic injuries are the leading cause of all injury deaths and cost the nation $150.5 billion annually, including $17 billion in medical care costs.
In a radio address to the nation last year, President Clinton asked all Americans to always use their seat belts and to always keep children, aged 12 and under, buckled in the back seat where they are safest.
Earlier this year, the President directed the Secretary of Transportation to work with Congress, the states and other concerned Americans, including the automobile and insurance industries and safety and consumer groups, to develop a plan to increase the use of safety belts nationwide. That plan, a comprehensive national strategy, was announced in April. It calls for achieving 85 percent seat belt use by the year 2000.
Focusing on children, NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D., asked parents to help them establish safe patterns of behavior. "Unbuckled is unacceptable. Everyone should be buckled up every time and on every trip. Children should be properly restrained in the back seat," Dr. Martinez said.
An average of eight children under 15 die and nearly 900 are injured every day in traffic crashes. All 50 states have laws requiring parents to make sure their children are transported safely in cars and trucks. Despite these laws, 40 percent of children under age five are improperly restrained and about 80 percent of child seats are not used correctly, Dr. Martinez said.
To avoid fatigue and reduce stress, drivers should plan all trips and leave plenty of time to get to their destinations, Dr. Martinez said. He also cautioned against speeding and other risky behavior.
Under President Clinton's leadership, the department has been working to improve the safety of motorists. The comprehensive, national strategy will preserve the benefits of air bags and decrease their potential hazard to children and at-risk adults. The department also has proposed an innovative, universal attachment system for child safety seats to make them more secure and easier to use