August 2-8 is National Stop on Red Week, and the numbers behind it are impossible to ignore.1
It sounds almost too simple to need its own awareness week; just stop when the light turns red. And yet, every year in the United States, red-light running contributes to around 165,000 crashes and up to 800 fatalities. Someone runs a red light at an urban intersection on average every 20 minutes. Many of those crashes involve pedestrians and cyclists, people who had every right to be exactly where they were. That’s not a traffic statistic. That’s a crisis hiding in plain sight.
National Stop on Red Week, running August 2-8 this year, is a nationwide campaign dedicated to raising awareness around the dangers of red-light running and the role that every single driver plays in preventing it. Because at the end of the day, most of these crashes aren’t accidents in the truest sense of the word, but the result of a choice. A split-second decision to push through a light, to squeeze through a yellow, to underestimate the risk. And the people who pay the price are often the ones who made no decision at all.
For Danella, this week hits close to home in more ways than one. Our crews don’t just drive to and from job sites, they work on them. Utility construction workers operate in and around active roadways every single day, making them some of the most vulnerable people on the road. A vehicle that runs a red light doesn’t just endanger other drivers. It endangers the workers in the work zone up ahead, the flaggers directing traffic, and the crews doing the work that keeps our infrastructure running. But even when our crews are driving, we utilize driving telematics software, Motiv, to ensure our teams are safe on the road. Providing coaching for any driver who may score below 90%.
Road safety is something Danella takes seriously year-round. From driver safety training and proper work zone protocols to the ongoing commitment to making sure every crew member goes home safe at the end of the day. But this week is a reminder that safety on the road is a shared responsibility. It doesn’t start and end with the people working on it; it starts with every driver behind the wheel.
– Morgan Peta, Marketing Intern
References:
- https://www.iteris.com/blog/national-stop-on-red-week-stop-on-red-save-a-life