Roadway deaths — in the U.S. and in Minnesota — are rising again at an alarming rate. People are still driving recklessly. Drunk, drugged and distracted driving are on the rise.

We Save Lives, a non-profit group, is teaming with The National Road Safety Foundation to declare the last week of January (Jan. 23 – 29, 2022) as the first-ever National Passenger Safety Week.  The purpose of this multi-year campaign is to empower passengers to “speak up for their safety,” when in a car that is being driven unsafely. In 2019, passengers accounted for 62 percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says crashes claimed the lives of 1,230 people in 2020, and more than half of those killed were passengers.
The first-ever National Passenger Safety Week wraps up this weekend. The goal is to get everyone home safe while out on the roads by speaking up about unsafe driving practices.

It is Passenger Safety Week and we hear from Candace Lightner of Mothers Against Drunk Driving on ways passengers can stay safe.

We Save Lives, a non-profit group organized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) founder Candace Lightner, is teaming with The National Road Safety Foundation to declare the last week of January (Jan. 23 – 29, 2022) as the first-ever National Passenger Safety Week. The purpose of this multi-year campaign is to empower passengers to “speak up for their safety,” when in a car that is being driven unsafely. In 2019, passengers accounted for 62 percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide.

The rising cost of drunk, drugged, and distracted driving
Fatal car crashes continue to rise, setting a record in 2021 for the most car crashes in the first six months of a single year. This is the rising cost of drunk, drugged, and distracted driving.

What can you do to empower yourself, your kids, and your family to say no? And how you can support those working to keep our roadways safe?

Passengers should take action when a driver is drunk, drugged or distracted behind the wheel, a new public awareness campaign will argue — and it’s raising provocative questions about the role of education in the fight to stop the most egregious driving crimes on U.S. roads.