LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) -
As Texas marks 12 years of
daily fatalities on roadways, motorist are being urged to boost safety.
TxDOT, the Texas Department of
Public Safety, and law enforcement make it their goal to protect all drivers on
our roads each day. East Texas News looked into the cause of these Texas
fatalities and how drivers can be safe on the road.
"Sadly the last day that Texas saw no
traffic fatalities was November 7, 2000," Kathi White, a public information
officer for TxDOT, said.
Even sadder is the fact that most of them could all
have been prevented.
Most of those fatalities were caused by
drunk driving, no seat belts, or distractions like being on the phone, talking
with friends, or messing with the radio, White said.
TxDOT officials feel one death on a Texas
roadway is one too many.
This is an issue that hits close to home
for an East Texas mother who lost her daughter in a one-car accident in 2009.
"I've been affected in a lot of
different ways," Brenda Herrada said. "It's not a day goes by that I don't cry.
I carry a lot of mixed emotions. It's affected our family in a lot of
ways."
However, there is definitely one thing that
people can do to be safer when they get into their cars. It's something Herrada
can't tell people enough.
"That should be the first thing you do when
you get in the vehicle is just buckle up always. I mean my number one thing is
buckling up; you've got to arrive alive," Herrada said.
In order to decrease the number of deaths,
Texas motorists have to drive safe and smart.
Meanwhile, TxDOT officials say they will
continue to work on improving the safety of roads and highways.
"Some of the things TxDOT does in varying
locations when they seem to have a high number of accidents is we look at great
separation, widening narrow road ways, so with a lot of the two lane roads
we've been on this track of widening those to help make them safer," White
said.
Copyright 2012 KTRE. All rights reserved.
