“Drive to Live” is a safety initiative by the North Carolina Highway Patrol. It is designed to reduce the number of collisions and traffic deaths involving teenagers.
All this week, troopers will be enforcing all traffic laws around the state’s schools, especially during the hours of 6am to 5pm. Troopers will be looking for violations such as speeding, following too closely, careless and reckless driving, and any violation of the motor vehicle laws that can result in serious injury or death. In addition, troopers will be conducting traffic safety education programs at the high schools sometime before the end of the school year.
According to National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, young drivers, ages 15- to 20-years old, are more vulnerable to death and injury on our roadways – traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America and North Carolina. Mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. One area that is particularly concerning is distracted driving. In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction, and an estimated 448,000 were injured.
Stay safe!