Safe Driving Campaign Starts with ‘100 Deadliest Days’

The unofficial start of summer is also the beginning of the 100 Deadliest Days for teen drivers — and one of the most intensive highway safety campaigns of the year.

An estimated 45 million Americans are expected to travel domestically this Memorial Day weekend with 87 percent of those people taking road trips, according to AAA. The State Highway Patrol is working to ensure residents and visitors to our state reach their destinations safely.

As the Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start to summer, the N.C. State Highway Patrol will utilize educational and enforcement efforts to reduce collisions from leading factors such as speeding, impaired and distracted driving, as well as reducing the severity of collisions through the enforcement of restraint laws.

Memorial Day also marks the start of the “100 Deadliest Days” for teen drivers as the summer months historically see an increase in teen driving deaths. Parents and teens are encouraged to strictly adhere to North Carolina graduated driving requirements.

Additionally, the State Highway Patrol will be partnering with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program’s Click It or Ticket campaign. State and local agencies will be conducting safety checks as well as saturation patrols throughout the area, searching for aggressive, impaired or otherwise unsafe drivers.

This campaign involves two seven-day enforcement periods, with the first being May 19-25 and the second being May 26-June 1. The campaign emphasis is being placed on seat belt and child restraint violations.

The Move Over or Get Pulled Over campaign ended May 18. That campaign focuses on keeping road crews and emergency workers safe. North Caorlina’s Move Over law requires slowing down and giving space to emergency and service personnel on the roadside.

Deputies and police conducted five checkpoints and nine saturation patrols. A total of 198 citations and violations were served, four felony arrests conducted and two fugitives captured.

Motorists can report dangerous driving behaviors to the State Highway Patrol by dialing *HP (*47).