This week marks Rural Road Safety Awareness Week, July 15-19!
Rural Road Safety Awareness Week (RRSAW) is here, and the message is simple: when vehicles stay in their lane, thousands of lives are saved.
According to the National Center for Rural Road Safety, over 11,000 lives are lost each year when their vehicle leaves its lane.
For Rural Road Safety Awareness Week (RRSAW), we are exploring reasons why roadway departures occur and what we can do to prevent them, and ultimately, save lives on our rural roadways.
There are various reasons a roadway departure may occur.
For example, a vehicle may leave its lane when speeding or approaching sharp curves; trying to navigate roads during various weather or road conditions; the driver may have unfavorable behaviors, such as impairment, inattention, or fatigue; nighttime visibility issues may be present; overcorrecting; among other reasons.
Our goals are to raise awareness of how deadly rural roadway departures (RwDs) are; encourage safe driving habits like wearing seatbelts and driving safe speed; and promote cost-effective safety countermeasures that can be implemented on rural roads.
“As we strive to meet our goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries on America’s roadways, we must address the staggering number of crashes that involve RwDs on rural roads,” said Jaime Sullivan, the Center’s director. “We invite everyone to join us as we raise awareness about the lifesaving power of staying between the lines on rural roadways.”
Each weekday of the campaign will have a separate topic, all related to reducing rural RwDs
The RRSAW daily topics are:
Monday: Rural RwD Overview
Tuesday: Speed
Wednesday: Sharp Curves
Thursday: Road Conditions
Friday: Positive Driver Behavior
Campaign assets will include social media graphics, comic strip posters, infographics, and other resources. Starting Monday, July 15, they will be free to download, customize, and share.
For more information about Rural Road Safety Awareness Week, visit the National Center for Rural Road Safety’s RRSAW campaign page. Download a customizable copy of this news release. Follow the National Center for Rural Road Safety on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The campaign will use the hashtag #RRSAW2024.
