At least one person has died on Texas roadways every day since Nov. 7, 2000. On the anniversary of this deadly milestone, the Texas Department of Transportation is urging drivers to end the streak.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that every day for the past 18 years someone has lost a spouse, child, friend or neighbor on our state’s roadways,” said TxDOT Executive Director James Bass in a press release. “Ending this deadly daily streak is a shared responsibility. We will continue to engineer our roads to be more forgiving of drivers’ errors, but we all must work toward ending such preventable contributing factors as distracted driving, speeding and drunk driving. Let’s make it a priority to be safe, focused and responsible behind the wheel. Let’s end the streak.”
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More than 66,000 people have died as a result of crashes on Texas roads since this date in 2000.
TxDOT officials are hoping to encourage safer driving by asking people to share personal stories on social media with the hashtag #EndTheStreakTX.
They're also urging drivers to:
- Buckle seat belts – All passengers need to be buckled
- Pay attention – Put phone away and avoid distractions
- Never drink and drive – Drunk driving kills; get a sober ride home
- Drive the speed limit – Obey speed limits and drive slower when weather conditions warrant