STARTING POINT
SAFE TRAVELS NC
ISSUE 7 | APRIL 2025
A MOMENT IN TIME
I keep thinking about the math. Slowing down – say, in a highway construction zone – and going 45 mph instead of 65 mph for a distance of 2 miles only delays you by a minute.
One minute. It’s nothing. Yet hundreds of people die every year in work zones, and speeding is a factor in at least a third of those crashes.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and later in the month we’ll mark Work Zone Awareness Safety Week. The through line for both issues: It’s so important to focus on what you’re doing. The average vehicle weighs more than 4,000 pounds, and when things go bad, they go bad fast.
State lawmakers, including state reps. Stephen Ross and Allison Dahle, grab some BBQ and banana pudding at NCAST's distracted driving luncheon.
Crashes caused by distracted driving kill 150 people a year in North Carolina. They cause more than 20,000 injuries.
Every one of these crashes is preventable, and the North Carolina Alliance for Safe Transportation is making a concerted push this year to pass a new distracted driving law.
You don’t make a concerted push in this state without at least a little BBQ, and maybe some banana pudding. That’s why NCAST served up lunch for lawmakers and legislative staff last week outside the General Assembly building.
The message: 29 other states and the District of Columbia already have a hands-free law on the books. It’s time North Carolina joined them.
Aubie Knight, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina, chats with Senate Deputy President Pro Tempore Ralph Hise at a BBQ luncheon sponsored by NCAST and the IIANC. Other lawmakers (including Sen. Jim Burgin - a 2025 NCAST Sweetheart of Safety Award winner - chat in the background.
“Distracted driving has become so blatant that we dread driving back and forth,” said state Rep. Stephen Ross, who travels regularly between Raleigh and his home in Alamance County. “It’s gotten to the point now where I actually fear driving because people are so distracted.”
Texting and emailing behind the wheel is already prohibited in North Carolina, but Ross said that law is difficult to enforce because a driver can claim they were doing something else on their phone. A hands-free law would simply mean you can’t hold the device in your hand while driving.
“That’s why the only thing that will work,” Ross said. “The only thing that will work is just hands free.”
Sen. Kevin Corbin - a 2025 NCAST Sweetheart of Safety Award winner - chats at the distracted driving luncheon with Rick Pierce, an NCAST board member and director of agency engagement for National General Insurance.
Your lawmakers listen to you. If you believe North Carolina needs a hands free driving law, speak up! You can look up your NC House and NC Senate members online or call 919-733-4111 and the operator will look them up and connect your call.
One way or another, please ask them to support Senate Bill 526, The Hands Free NC Act.
Watch For Turning Tractors
If you see farm equipment on the road PLEASE SLOW DOWN and pay attention! Tractors and other farm equipment often top out at 25 mph. And sometimes they need to turn left - so watch closely. The hand signal for a left turn can look like an invitation to pass!
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The most common crashes with farm vehicles are side swipes and angle crashes, which typically occur while farm equipment is turning left and another vehicle tries to pass.
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Many farm vehicles make wide left turns, which can make it look like they’re turning right or pulling off to let cars pass.
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Many tractor operators will signal a left-hand turn by hand, sticking their left arm out straight.
Never pass a farm vehicle unless you are absolutely certain it’s safe! Never pass farm vehicles in a no-passing zone!
This message is proudly brought to you by
Ask a Trooper
“Can I turn right on red?”
This month’s question comes from Autumn, from Randleman.
Got a question? Ask it in a short video and send it here.
Respect The Zone
April brings National Work Zone Awareness Week, and our friends at AAA have plenty of reminders for work zone driving:
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Slow down. Going 45 mph through a two-mile work zone instead of 65 mph costs you 2 minutes.
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Leave room to react. Roughly 20% of fatal work zone crashes involve rear-end collisions.
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FOCUS. Don’t text. Don’t look at your phone. Don’t get distracted. Lives are at stake.
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Watch for workers and equipment and watch out for debris in the roadway!
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Expect the unexpected. There’s a lot going on in a work zone. Be part of the safety solution!
Nationally, hundreds of people die each year in work zone crashes, and tens of thousands are injured. Work Zone Safety Awareness Week is April 21-25 but please make this a priority all year round.
8 Minute Interview
Three months ago we brought you some tips on having hard conversations about poor driving habits, particularly with the teen driver in your life. This month we bring you the interview that produced those tips: A conversation with a family therapist who has hard conversations for a living.
New Safety Campaigns
This month, the N.C. Alliance for Safe Transportation is focused on fighting distracted driving. Check out our digital campaign at handsfreenc.org, and be on the lookout for a new digital billboard campaign in partnership with the North Carolina Outdoor Advertising Association, a strong partner with NCAST in promoting safe roads and highways.
Then call 919-733-4111, ask to speak to your lawmakers (the operator will connect you with their office if you give your address) and tell those lawmakers to support a hands-free driving law (SB 526) in NC!
You can also look up your NC House and NC Senate members online and email them.
In the News
Huge spike in pedestrian deaths over the last decade
- Gov Highway Safety Assoc
Save The Date For Safety
The Governor’s Highway Safety Program and the Institute for Transportation Research and Education will hold a free online webinar April 30 on Teen Driver Safety. The hour-long event is geared toward parents and educators, and it starts at 11 a.m. Register here.
Biking, Walking, Planning, $$$
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is taking applications now for its Multimodal Planning Grant Program, which provides state and federal funding for bike and walking path planning.
Municipalities, counties, universities and colleges can apply, and the funding is meant to further comprehensive strategies as opposed to funding individual projects. For more information see the website or reach out to Regional Planning Manager Bryan Lopez at 919-707-2606 or balopez@ncdot.gov.
The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. May 12, 2025
One Last Thing…
Good News, Bad News
The good news: Roadway fatalities have been trending down in the United States.
The bad news: They trended down from a peak in 2021, and they’re still above average.
Even so, this chart from the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration shows improvement, and early indications from 2024 data are that the downward trend continued.
NCAST | Safe Travels NC
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