EFFECTIVENESS OF KEEP KIDS ALIVE DRIVE 25®

The key ingredient in creating an effective KEEP KIDS ALIVE DRIVE 25® campaign is planning.  A first step is to create a Traffic Safety Task Force which includes representation from residents (including neighborhood/homeowners associations), law enforcement, public works, city govt., schools, businesses, and civic organizations. The task for this group is to develop a plan of action that works to educate and engage all citizens in creating safer streets for the benefit of everyone. When this happens, communities experience results such as the following:

For consultation/training support for your Traffic Safety Task Force, contact Tom Everson at 402-334-1391 or kkad25@kkad25.org.

Fast Facts (Check these out in your community):

• Speeding in residential neighborhoods represents the single greatest complaint issue to police departments and city council representatives throughout the U.S. (KKAD25)
• Most speeders on your street live in right in the neighborhood. (KKAD25)
• Based on the “General Estimates System” database of police-reported accidents, incapacitating pedestrian injuries rose from 18.2 percent in 25 mile-per-hour zones to 23.4 percent in 30 mile-per-hour zones. Pedestrian fatalities spiked respectively from 1.8 percent to 5.4 percent. This fatality rate represents a 3-fold increase just for that 5-mph increase. This is significant, especially if your family member or neighbor is injured or killed.
• Crash rates increase faster with an increase in speed on minor roads (which includes residential streets) than major roads. (NHTSA 2004)

• The death rate per million miles driven on residential streets is almost 3 times the death rate on highways. (NHTSA 2004)

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children of every age from 2-14 years of age (NHTSA-based on 2001 figures from the National Center for Health Statistics)

• Speeding Triples the Odds of Crashing (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety - 2006)

• It is not unusual for speeders to be clocked in excess of 40 mph (and even 50 mph on occasion) in 25-mph zones. (KKAD25)

• Speeding extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle.
• *At 20 mph the total stopping distance needed is 69 feet.
• *At 30 mph, the distance needed is 123 feet.
• *At 40 mph, the distance needed is 189 feet which may not be enough distance and time for you to avoid hitting an object or person on the road (USDOT, NHSTA)
• If you hit a pedestrian:

          *At 20 mph 5% will die

          *At 30 mph 45% will die

          *At 40 mph 85% will die

(Source: NHTSA)

• At night, when you can see only as far as your headlight (160 feet in front of your vehicle), the situation worsens.
• The effectiveness of restraint devices like air bags and safety belts, and vehicular construction features such as crumple zones and side member beams decline as impact speed increases. (USDOT, NHSTA)
• Speed, defined as exceeding the posted speed limit or traveling too fast for the conditions, is cited as a contributing factor in approximately 30% of fatal crashes. (NHSTA)

Speeding (From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

According to the NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION (NTHSA), ALMOST 175,000 pedestrians died on U.S. roadways between 1975 and 2001. The study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the very old, the very young, and drinkers are the most likely to be hit and killed by a vehicle. More than one-fifth of children between ages 5 and 9 killed in traffic incidents in 2001 were pedestrians. Pedestrians make up about one-eighth of the people killed in motor vehicle crashes, almost 5000 of the 43,300 killed in 2006.

 In addition, what follows are facts posted by the National Safe Kids Campaign on their web site at http://www.safekids.org.

Injury Facts

WHEN AND WHERE MOTOR VEHICLE OCCUPANT DEATHS AND INJURIES OCCUR

• Seventy-five percent of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home. In addition, 60 percent of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less.
• Rural areas have higher motor vehicle crash incidence rates and death rates than urban areas. In addition, crashes in rural areas tend to be more severe.
• In 2001, 23 percent of all traffic deaths among children ages 14 and under involved alcohol.  Of the children killed in alcohol-related crashes, more than half were passengers in vehicles with drunk drivers.  Child restraint use decreases as both the age of the child and the blood alcohol level of the child’s driver increase.

PEDESTRIAN DEATHS AND INJURIES 

• In 2000, 706 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries. Of these, 534 died in motor vehicle-related traffic crashes. One-fifth of all traffic fatalities among children ages 14 and under are pedestrians.
• In 2001, more than 47,300 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pedestrian-related injuries.  Approximately 73 percent of these injuries were traffic-related.
• In 2001, 23 children ages 14 and under were killed as pedestrians in school bus-related incident.

We are all well aware that statistics represent real people – sons, daughters, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, co-workers, teammates, and more. These people, who love and are loved, represent the faces of why KEEP KIDS ALIVE DRIVE 25® is committed to growing a nationwide campaign to increase safety for pedestrians and motorists alike in every community in all 50 states, as well as in countries beyond our borders.

FOCUS ON DATA: SEAT BELTS – FASTENATING!™

SEAT BELTS – FASTENATING!™ is an initiative to educate drivers and passengers alike about the benefits of wearing seat belts. Our goal is to focus on all the good that comes from using seat belts, especially when it comes to relationships with family and friends. What could be more FASTENATING than to show your care for others by wearing your seat belt and expecting others to wear theirs? There’s no law against it, SEAT BELTS – FASTENATING!™

We seek to partner with schools, safety and community organizations, businesses, and more in promoting the good that comes from seat belt use. SEAT BELTS – FASTENATING!™ is dedicated to the memory of Jim Everson who died in  February 2002. Jim was a pioneer of sorts, outfitting the family car with enough seat belts for all passengers (even in the first 10-passenger wagon) years before becoming standard equipment.  He always told the kids, “This car isn’t moving until everyone’s seat belt is buckled.”

For more information, please contact Tom Everson at (402) 334-1391 or Tom@kkad25.org.

The Safe Kids Campaign shares the following information pertaining to seat belt use:

WHO IS AT RISK

• Riding unrestrained is the greatest risk factor for death and injury among child occupants of motor vehicles. Among children ages 14 and under killed as occupants in motor vehicle crashes in 2001, 55 percent were not using safety restraints at the time of the collision.
• Approximately 14 percent of children ages 14 and under ride unrestrained, placing them at twice the risk of death and injury of those riding restrained.
• Nearly a third of children ride in the wrong restraints for their age and size. Recent data from the Crash Injury Research & Engineering Network indicate that inappropriately restrained children are nearly three and a half times more likely to be seriously injured than their appropriately restrained counterparts.
• Incorrect use of child safety seats is widespread. Although 96 percent of parents believe they install their child safety seat correctly, it is estimated that approximately 82 percent of children who are placed in child safety seats are improperly restrained.
• Driver safety belt use is positively associated with child restraint use. In a recent study, nearly 40 percent of children riding with unbelted drivers were completely unrestrained, compared to only 5 percent of children riding with belted drivers.

SAFETY BELTS AND TEENS

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds in the United States (NHTSA)

• In 2001, 5,341 teens were killed in passenger vehicles involved in motor vehicle crashes. Two-thirds of those killed were not buckled up. (NHTSA)

• When driver fatality rates are calculated on the basis of estimated annual travel, teen drivers (16-19 years old) have a fatality rate that is four times higher than that of 25-69 year old drivers. (NHTSA)

• In 2001 the estimated economic costs of police-reported crashes involving drivers between 15-20 years old was $42.3 billion. (NHTSA)

FOCUS ON DATA - STOP! TAKE 3 TO SEE™

The National Safe Kids Campaign issued a press release in October 2003 on a study conducted in partnership with FedEx Express on observance of Stop Signs. In part, findings include:

• Of vehicles surveyed, more than a third (37 percent) of motorists rolled through stop signs at intersections and nearly a tenth (7 percent) of motorists did not even slow down before the stop sign.
• At intersections with marked crosswalks, one quarter (25 percent) of vehicles stopped in or past the crosswalks.
• When only child pedestrians were present, nearly a third (32 percent) of motorists violated the stop signs.
• At intersections where pedestrians were crossing, nearly a quarter (24 percent) of drivers did not come to a complete stop. 

The report further states that, “Each year, stop sign violations are associated with approximately 200 fatal crashes and 17,000 non-fatal injury crashes. Children are at risk of injury when stop sign and pedestrian right-of-way laws are violated.”

STOP! TAKE 3 TO SEE™ promotes correct observance of stop signs – no matter where these appear. For more information about how to integrate this initiative in to your overall approach to traffic safety, please call or e-mail. We want to see these numbers come down as we all do what is in our power to create safer streets for the benefit of all.

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25^® and related logos and slogans (Check Your Speed^®/No Need To Speed^®, Be Aware! Drive With Care™, Stop! Take 3 To See^®, Stop Means Stop^®, and Seat Belts-FASTENATING!^®) are registered trademarks of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25, P.O. Box 45563 Omaha, Nebraska, 68145. No other entities may use these or similar marks without prior permission. Call 402-334-1391 for information.