STARTING POINT
SAFE TRAVELS NC | ISSUE 4 | JANUARY 2025
START A CONVERSATION!
Sometimes safer driving means having a hard conversation with someone you love.
Use this newsletter to break the ice. Forward it. Email a specific item. Tell the people you love that more than 40% of the people killed on North Carolina roads weren’t wearing their seatbelt. Remind a young driver that the average vehicle weighs more than 4,000 pounds.
Start that conversation. And if you want advice on how to have these conversations, we talked to a family therapist this month about exactly that, so please keep reading!
“Have a little more patience…
Even for an experienced police officer, a perspective shift changes things.
About 2 years ago Raleigh Police Capt. Peter Manukas got promoted. The new gig came with a different vehicle, and Manukas swapped the blue-and-white patrol vehicle he’d been in for 20 years for an unmarked SUV.
“The way people drive when you're not in a police car, it's very eye opening,” Manukas said. “And it's very eye opening when a white Tahoe turns their blue lights on and pulls you over.”
Manukas is a big advocate for police departments using multiple vehicle types to keep drivers guessing and honest.
In his 25 year career he’s worked on Raleigh’s crash reconstruction unit, piecing together what happened on the worst, and often last, day of people’s lives. He’s been a big part of the Triangle’s street-racing task force. And he’s trained officers around the state to identify telltale signs of drug use so they can sniff out DWI.
For his commitment to safety, Manukas was last year’s law enforcement official of the year at the Sweethearts of Safety Awards – an annual event put on by the North Carolina Alliance for Safe Transportation. As this year’s ceremony approaches (Feb. 13, tickets available here), Manukas talked to Safe Travels about what he sees on the roads.
“We need to have a little bit more patience, slow down,” he said. “What people don't get is they're driving, and I hate to use this analogy, but they're driving a missile.”
Leave earlier. Drive slower. Stay off your phone.
“The way people drive when you're not in a police car, it's very eye opening,” Manukas said. “And it's very eye opening when a white Tahoe turns their blue lights on and pulls you over.”
“People are always doing something,” Manukas said. “They’re always on something. … People just kind of seem to be worse drivers than they used to.”
Also: There’s no excuse to drive drunk.
“There's rideshares,” he said. “All these things out there that can prevent you from getting arrested for DWI and putting yourself, your life and somebody else's life, in the hands of that alcohol bottle. … That $50 Uber charge is going to save you a plethora of money in the long run.”
Manukas shared his award last year with Raleigh’s traffic safety unit. That’s fitting, because as Manukas says, “the only way we’re successful in this job is to work together.”
“When I got that award last year, most of that was from the work that the guys did,” he said. “I took an idea, I put it down on paper. I told them how I thought it should be implemented, and they went above them beyond any expectations that I had.”
8 Minute Interview
Dr. Susan Evans is a trauma surgeon in Charlotte, and she sees the chilling results of serious car crashes. The injuries are often life-altering. They’re also avoidable.
Have A Hard Conversation.
Talking about safe driving can be awkward. Maybe you’ve got a friend who doesn’t wear their seatbelt. Maybe you’ve got a parent who needs to give up their keys. Or a teenager who won’t listen.
We turned to long-time family therapist Michelle Chachkes this month to talk about how to have hard conversations, how to make them effective and how to stay patient with young drivers. Here are her tips:
Make sure you’re ready.
“There is a very big difference between reacting to something versus engaging in it where you have enough energy and ability to have some compassion. You have to first take care of yourself.”
Play it cool.
“To have a productive conversation with anybody, but especially our children, we need to meet them where they are. If we’re coming from a real fearful, intense place, that creates a shutdown. It’s about the approach. It’s about tone. It’s about our timing.”
Model good habits, but show you’re not perfect.
“Talk it through when you’re driving. When you make a mistake, own it. Say, ‘Oh, gosh, I forgot to put my blinker on.’ Because it’s really normalizing that there are a lot of parts to this and that we all have issues, that we all have to remind ourselves sometimes.”
With aging parents, look for small steps.
“They don’t see themselves having these difficulties, probably. So it’s a very gentle, long process. Work with your parent before it gets to the point of ‘OK, we are done driving.’”
Ask a Trooper
“What is your advice for driving on snowy or icy roads?”
You asked, 1st Sgt. Chris Knox of the NC State Highway Patrol answered. This month’s question comes from an NCAST Teen Ambassador.
Got a question? Ask it in a short video and send it here.
Policy Matters!
The North Carolina General Assembly goes back into session this month, and lawmakers will have several transportation safety items before them. This month we look at three.
Hands Free NC
A bill to tighten North Carolina laws limiting cell phone use behind the wheel has been introduced every session since 2009. The goal is to sharply limit motorists from holding a cell phone as they drive.
Sen. Kevin Corbin, then a member of the North Carolina House, succeeded in getting a version of the hands-free bill passed out of that chamber in 2019, but it stalled in the Senate.
Corbin and Sen. Jim Burgin co-sponsored hands-free legislation in both 2021 and 2023, but the bill remains stuck in the Senate Rules Committee.
“Sen.Corbin and I remain committed to addressing this serious traffic safety peril that is the cause of one out of every five crashes on North Carolina roads,” Burgin told Safe Travels NC. “In addition to the over 23,000 injuries and nearly 200 deaths caused by distracted drivers each year in our state, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has said publicly that vehicle repair and medical expenses from these crashes increase auto insurance rates. We need a hands-free law to not only make the roads safer but to hold the line on premiums.”
Polling conducted in 2024 by Meredith College showed 91% of of people support a bill that prohibits drivers from holding a mobile device while driving.
“A hands-free law may have more bipartisan support than any other single piece of legislation in recent history,’ said David McLennan, Director of the Meredith College Poll. "We have polled on this for several years now, and the support has only grown. There is such strong awareness that phones and safe driving do not go together.”
Work Zone Safety
Back in April, NCAST partnered with traffic management company Flagger Force on a statewide campaign to promote work zone safety awareness. The company was highly motivated to encourage better driving behavior in work zones – two employees working in a work zone had lost their lives the previous year.
Flagger Force contributed $20,000 to put the PSA on social media and digital platforms, and the ads reached over 1 million NC households with a message to slow down, pay attention and obey all temporary signage and worker instructions when traveling through a work zone.
The Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association (CAPA) and NC Association of General Contractors (NCAGC) have worked to get work zone safety added as a required drivers education lesson, and the groups plan to push for that again during the 2025 session.
They’ll also pursue other work zone safety measures.
“We’re looking at what other states have done recently to reduce speeding and fatalities in work zones,” said Ellis Powell of CAPA. “We believe we need more awareness and enforcement in and around work zones to combat distracted drivers and excessive speeding in the work zones. Some states have placed speed safety cameras in work zones to help with awareness and enforcement. Their data on this approach appears to show this has been successful in raising awareness of and reducing speeding in the work zones. We think this is a good topic to discuss with legislators, NCDOT and NCSHP in NC.”
Wildlife Crossing Fund
Collisions between animals and vehicles are on the upswing, and in 2023 there were nearly 22,000 of them in North Carolina alone.
It can be as destructive as hitting another vehicle. The average damage claim runs about $4,300, and nationally nearly 2,000 people died over the past decade in animal-related crashes.
Safe Passage, a coalition working to make North Carolina’s roadways safer for motorists and wildlife alike, is pushing this year for $10 million in annual state funding for wildlife crossings and ongoing maintenance. The coalition would also like to see more consideration given to protecting wildlife corridors so land will be available in the future for wildlife crossing structures.
This is a particularly crucial time for these issues, because the North Carolina Department of Transportation is working on a massive rebuild of Western North Carolina roads badly damaged by Hurricane Helene. The state can build back better with cost-effective designs that enhance flood resiliency and include new crossings that improve safety, as well as aquatic and terrestrial wildlife connectivity, particularly along Interstates 40 and 26 in the mountains.
“Making roadways safer for both humans and wildlife is a win/win for North Carolinians,” said Tim Gestwicki, CEO of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and chair of the Safe Passage steering committee. “In 2025, we look forward to working with the General Assembly and incoming Gov. Josh Stein’s administration to implement common-sense solutions to a problem that faces all motorists in North Carolina: The peril of a wildlife–vehicle collision.”
Help the Helpers.
A recent study found roadside assistance providers - tow truck drivers, mechanics and others helping stranded drivers - were killed by passing vehicles at a rate nearly four times higher than believed.
The AAA Foundation study identified 123 deaths between 2015 and 2021, dwarfing the 34 deaths noted in national crash data. That’s because, AAA says, crash reports identified many victims as pedestrians instead of roadside assistance providers.
Most of these fatalities happened on an interstate, the study found. More than 80% occurred in good weather.
“This new research reveals that vehicle collisions with roadside workers are not always the result of poor visibility,” said Tiffany Wright, spokesperson for AAA – The Auto Club Group in the Carolinas, as well as a board member for the NC Alliance for Safe Transportation. “More often than not speed, driver distractions, and/or impairment are a factor.”
What can you do?
Slow down when you see someone on the side of the road. Move over. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t text and drive. Focus on the road. It could be the difference between life and death.
In the News
Michigan approves sweeping new traffic safety, camera laws
- Michigan Gov’s Office
New crosswalk timing gives NC pedestrians a head start
- The News & Observer
Raleigh pedestrian deaths nearly triple
- Raleigh Magazine
Grants Available!
The North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program is accepting grant applications this month for highway safety projects that would happen during the 2026 federal fiscal year, which is Oct. 1, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2026.
Successful applications will focus on initiatives that help reduce vehicle speeds, impaired driving, distracted and aggressive driving, increase seatbelt and proper child safety seat usage, or focus on making transportation safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, seniors and young people.
Past applicants include law enforcement agencies, government agencies, hospitals, public health agencies, educational organizations, emergency medical services and nonprofits.
Those interested should start with this form. For more information see the GHSP Grant Information webpage.
One Last Thing…
A Weighty Topic.
The average vehicle weight in the United States has increased by more than 1,000 pounds over the last 40 years, according to statistics kept by the Environmental Protection Agency.
To quote Raleigh Police Capt. Peter Manukas, winner of a 2024 Sweethearts of Safety Award, you’re “driving a missile.” Treat it with respect.
NCAST | Safe Travels NC
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Raleigh, NC