The Delaware Office of Highway Safety is joining forces with other participating Delaware law enforcement agencies as part of “Drive to Save Lives in Delaware Campaign and the National Distracted Driving Awareness Month- 2019.
The effort will focus on Interstate 95 as well as other roads and municipal streets. The initiative will take place from Friday, April 5th to Sunday, April 7th.
The effort will take place across the approximate 96 miles of the State of Delaware.
The emphasis of this initiative will be to change the high-risk behaviors of motorists, such as distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding, unsafe driving behaviors of the operators of large trucks/buses and the failure of motorists and passengers alike to wear seat-belts.
The participating Delaware agencies include the following departments: Bethany Beach, Cheswold, Dagsboro , Delaware Capitol, Delaware City, Delaware River and Bay Authority, Delaware State Police, Dover, Elsmere, Felton, Georgetown, Greenwood, Harrington, Laurel, Milford, Millsboro, Milton, New Castle County, Ocean View, Rehoboth Beach, Selbyville, Smyrna, Wyoming and University of Delaware.
A release noted that Interstate 95 is nearly 1,920 miles in length and is currently considered one of the deadliest highways in the country, with heavy truck traffic. One in 10 highway deaths occurred in a crash involving a large truck and most of the victims of the fatal crashes were in passenger vehicles.
Alcohol and speeding are other major factors, a release noted.
All 15 states that line Interstate 95 from Maine to Florida will be participating in the “I-95
It was also noted that nine percent of 2016’s fatal crashes involved distracted driving factors.
Teens remain the largest age group involved in distracted driving-related fatal crashes. Distracted Driving is also reported to b a grossly underreported violation.
Although most people buckle up, those who do not account for a disproportionate percentage of traffic deaths.
