NJ Home   Services A to Z   Departments/Agencies FAQs
Great Seal of the State of New Jersey
NJDOT Site Index  |  Search: NJ Home   NJDOT
Disclaimer  
Great Seal of the State of New Jersey

news release

P.O. Box 600
Trenton, NJ

Contact: Erin Phalon
609-530-4280

RELEASE: Ocotber 6, 2005


NJDOT celebrates "Put the Brakes on Fatalities" Day

 

(Trenton) - Commissioner Jack Lettiere today announced that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) on October 10 will celebrate Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day®. The annual celebration promotes safety improvements to New Jersey 's transportation network and encourages the public to embrace safer driving procedures.

 

"NJDOT is working hard to identify and address threats to motorists and pedestrians, but we can't do it alone," said Commissioner Lettiere. "Drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists can help reduce and ultimately eliminate unnecessary casualties on our nation's roads."

 

NJDOT will celebrate Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day in concert with more than 40 national safety organizations, federal, state and local government agencies and private sector companies working together to reduce the death and injury toll of motor vehicle crashes. The initiative's goal is to achieve one full day of zero traffic deaths.

 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every $100 million invested in highway safety improvements results in approximately 145 fewer traffic fatalities over a 10-year period. Motor vehicle fatalities are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 6 to 33 years old. Statistics show that New Jersey motorists are involved in approximately 320,000 crashes per year. 700 fatalities occur each year, including more than 100 pedestrian fatalities.

 

NJDOT administers several programs designed to protect the safety of New Jersey 's motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. The NJDOT Cross-Median Prevention Program identifies locations where excessive numbers of cross-median head-on collisions have occurred. NJDOT then provides median barriers designed to prevent such occurrences at identified locations.

 

NJDOT's Intersection and Pedestrian Improvement Program identifies areas at which high rates of crashes, injuries and deaths have occurred. NJDOT then implements low-cost improvements such as signal timing revisions and installation of pedestrian indications, new and/or updated signing, and new and/or updated pavement markings.

 

The NJDOT Safe Corridor Program identifies high-crash rate locations through the state and increases motor vehicle violation fines in those areas.

NJDOT also financially supports the NJ State Police Enhanced Enforcement Program. The Department allocates to the NJ State Police $2 million dollars to be used during a two-year term to target aggressive drivers in select locations.

NJDOT encourages motorists to adopt safer driving behavior. Driving defensively, obeying posted speed limits, reducing speed in bad weather and not drinking and driving are examples of behaviors that drivers can practice in order to reduce their chances of being in a crash. Other important safety practices include consistent use of safety belts, use of appropriate child safety seats, wearing of a helmet when cycling or skating and crossing streets at crosswalks.

 

For more traffic safety tips and information, log on to the Put The Brakes On Fatalities Day® website at www.brakesonfatalities.org

 

 
Go to NJDOT home page Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Legal Statement | Accessibility Statement  Go to State of New Jersey home page
  department: home | about | NJ commuter | in the works | business | engineering | freight, air & water | capital | community | data | links | index
  statewide: NJ Home | about NJ | business | government | state services A to Z | departments

  Copyright © State of New Jersey, 2002-2020
  Department of Transportation
  P.O. Box 600
  Trenton, NJ 08625-0600
OPRA - open public records act

  Last Updated:  December 27, 2012