FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   December 8, 2006

Contact Person:  Crissy Rowland
(270) 781-8039 ext. 120, crissyg.rowland@ky.gov     

‘TIS THE SEASON

During the holidays, work, school, church and social activities can be an exhausting and constant chain of events for most of us.  Parties and programs require attendance, planning and preparation.  There are holiday church and school pageant practices and performances, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, decorating and gift buying to squeeze into an already hectic day-to-day schedule.  Time?  There never seems to be enough of it, and as transportation is necessary with most of these activities, it seems understandable how aggressive driving occurs in an attempt to be everywhere at once.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a large number of the approximately 6,800,000 crashes that happen in the United States each year are caused by aggressive driving.  Drivers are seen involved in multiple dangerous driving practices.  These include speeding, following too closely, zipping from lane to lane, not signaling lane changes correctly, flashing headlights in frustration, not obeying stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights and railroad crossing signals.  Running red lights is one of the most dangerous forms of aggressive driving.

NHTSA defines aggressive driving as, “when individuals commit a combination of moving traffic offenses so as to endanger other persons or property.”  Some other communities define aggressive driving as “the operation of a motor vehicle involving three or more moving violations as part of a single continuous sequence of driving acts, which is likely to endanger any person or property.”  Road rage is different from aggressive, it is a criminal offense and is “an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger(s) of one motor vehicle on the operator or passenger(s) of another motor vehicle or is caused by an incident that occurred on a roadway”.

During this busy holiday season and on a daily basis, help keep our roadways safer.  NHTSA offers these suggestions:

• Keep your cool in traffic; be patient and courteous to other drivers.

• Correct any of your own unsafe driving habits that are likely to endanger, antagonize or provoke other motorists. Fifty percent of those surveyed admitted they had driven recklessly, had sped, and/or engaged in other unsafe or illegal driving behaviors.
• Reduce your stress on the road: allow plenty of time to get where you're going, consider changing your schedule to avoid the worst congestion, listen to relaxing music or books on tape.
• Support your community's law enforcement efforts to identify and penalize aggressive drivers.
• If your community has a witness "tip line," report the incidents of dangerous driving you see.
• If a hostile motorist tries to pick a fight, do not make eye contact, and do not respond.

###

Search www.barrenriverhealth.org

PROMOTE • PROTECT • PREVENT

Home - Health Info. - Services - Health Quizzes - Local Stats - Calendar - Admin.Services - Contact Us