October 10th is Put the Breaks of Fatalities Day, a day designed to “heighten consciousness about what people can do and what official steps they should take to reduce transportation fatalities and accidents on American highways, roads, and streets by calling attention to reducing fatalities on one specific day, and also with other traffic safety events held during the year.” The American Society of Civil Engineers, who sponsor the day, are offering free toolkits that can be used to educate people of all ages on how to best prevent fatal traffic accidents from occurring. Killing more than 30,000 people each year, motor vehicles are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The most common causes of these fatal motor vehicle accidents are:
- Impaired driving
- Distracted driving
- Drowsy driving
- Aggressive driving