Guest written by: Andrew Bennett, Zero Fatalities Program Manager
This year Zero Fatalities, a lifesaving program with the goal of reaching Zero Fatalities on Nevada’s roadways, is reflecting on a decade of proudly serving the Nevada community. As the award-winning program heads into 2021, it reflects on a year of tremendous progress made and what areas of focus need-be looking ahead towards the future of the program.
In 2011, Zero Fatalities was introduced as a program of the Nevada Department of Public Safety and Transportation targeting four key dangerous driving behaviors – Impairment, Intersection Safety, Occupant Protection and Pedestrian Safety. The program has since evolved over a ten-year period, emphasizing the humanity of traffic safety and how it affects all vulnerable road users including, but may not be limited to, Bicyclists, Distracted Driving, Impairment, Intersection Safety, Lane Departure Safety, Micro-mobility, Motorcyclists, Occupant-Protection, Older Drivers, Pedestrian Safety, Speed, Teen Drivers and Work Zone Safety.
While significant progress has been made toward changing unsafe driving behaviors, since 2011 the program has seen 885 total alcohol-impaired related fatalities, 558 total motorcycle fatalities, 1,523 total occupant protection, 971 total number of speed fatalities, 698 total number of pedestrians and 73 total number of bicyclists killed, making for a total of 2,977 roadway fatalities between 2011-2020 in Nevada.
As Zero Fatalities looks to move forward from the Worst Year Ever with 314 fatalities statewide in 2020, the program plans to further tap into the personal responsibility of traffic safety with the introduction of two additional E’s to its ethos: Equity and Everyone. The purpose in doing so is to further ensure that the life-saving efforts of the Zero Fatalities program is equally inclusive to all vulnerable road users, of all demographics. Each and every person on Nevada’s roads has a personal responsibility to look out for one another, because Lives Are on the Line.
Throughout 2021, the Zero Fatalities program will launch several, multi-faceted campaigns targeting major dangerous driving behaviors along with an ongoing educational social media series on Zero Fatalities’ social channels Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on the 10th of each month featuring timely traffic safety topics, guest speakers and a year-long recap of defining moments in Zero Fatalities’ history.
