It’s Global Road Safety week! The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), operator of The Toll Roads, is proud to be a part of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA) new global road safety campaign: #BeSafeTogether.
IBTTA’s global road safety campaign showcases the tolling industry’s commitment to ensuring our roads are safe for everyone. The campaign, “Be Safe Together,” is a call to action and a reminder that every person on the road, including drivers, motorcyclists, passengers, and road workers, is part of a community of people who deserve empathy and respect.
Be Safe Together emphasizes the little choices drivers make at each step of their journey that can make a real difference in others’ lives. By taking time to check the tires and clean the windshield before getting in the car, ditching the phone, using turn signals, yielding to others, moving over and slowing down for road workers, drivers can work together to create a safer community on the road.
Safety is at the core of the tolling industry’s mission and everyone at TCA is personally committed to creating the safest road conditions possible for all road users, including commuters, long-haul truckers, families on the road for errands and vacations and our own road workers and first responders.
Did you know…
Road accidents are a global emergency. Globally, road accidents are the leading cause of death for 5-to-29-year-olds and the 12th leading cause of death when all ages are considered. (Centers for Disease Control)
There were 1.19 million worldwide road traffic deaths in 2021. (World Health Organization) Approximately 66 percent of fatalities are among people aged 18–59 years and 19 percent are aged 60 years or above.
Road traffic deaths continue to disproportionately impact men, with overall fatalities three times higher for men than for women.
In high-income countries it is estimated that about 20 percent of fatally injured drivers have blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels above the legal limit.
In low- and middle-income countries, between 33 and 69 percent of fatally injured drivers and between 8 and 29 percent of nonfatally injured drivers had consumed alcohol before their crash.
In the United States, road deaths are increasing. There were 40,990 road deaths in 2023 (NHTSA), while in 2010 there were 32,999 fatalities from road accidents nationwide, marking a 24 percent increase over 13 years.
Over the last decade, more than 370,000 people died in transportation incidents in the US. (USDOT)
Causes of road fatalities. The rise in the highway fatality rate during 2020 and 2021 was caused by many factors, including increased speeding, alcohol use and failure to wear safety belts. (USDOT Transportation Statistics Annual Report)
Speeding. Speeding-related deaths were less than 10,000 before the pandemic in 2019 but increased to 12,330 (23 percent) in 2021.
Males, especially young males, account for a high proportion of speeding drivers in fatal crashes. In 2021, 35 percent of male drivers involved in fatal crashes in the 15- to 20-year-old age groups were speeding at the time of the crashes, compared to 21 percent of the female drivers in the same age group. This difference among the sexes was evident in all age groups, even for those 75 and older, albeit the difference narrows with age.
Impaired driving. There were 13,524 fatalities from drunk driving in 2022. (NHTSA)
A 2016 study by the Governors Highway Safety Association found that among drivers in fatal crashes who were tested for drugs and/or alcohol, about 44 percent tested positive for drugs.
Distracted driving. The number of fatalities in distraction-affected highway crashes rose to 3,522 or 8 percent of total motor vehicle-related fatalities in 2021. (NHTSA)
The scale of tolling in the U.S.
There are 6,700 miles of toll roads across America. (IBTTA)
33 US states and territories have at least one toll facility.
Americans made 5.7 billion toll trips in 2015.
50 million transponders are used for electronic tolling. (IBTTA)
The top 40 US toll operators made $14 billion in capital investments in their facilities from 2009-2011. (IBTTA)
Tolls represent 5 percent of highway revenues.
The top 40 US toll facilities made $14 billion in capital investment over the period 2009 to 2011.
Your choices on the road affect lives. Read more about IBTTA’s campaign at: https://www.ibtta.org/besafetogether.
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