FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          
Contact(s): Lora Rakowski, 410-545-0303; Jeremy Gunderson, 410-787-4072           
          
EMPLOYERS TEAM UP TO ENCOURAGE SAFE DRIVING          
          
Drive Safely Work Week Begins Today          
          
October 6, 2008 – On-time delivery? Late afternoon service call? Traveling to and from work? The expenses associated with abandoning professionalism while driving rival the number of excuses given for doing so. Speeding, running red lights, and weaving in and out of traffic are just a few of the factors that contribute to crashes and associated fatalities and injuries that cost Marylanders millions each year in health care costs, lost productivity, and insurance premiums. To minimize the cost of traffic crashes, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA)’s Traffic Safety Awareness for Employers (T-SAFE) members and Choose Safety for Life campaign partners are proud to join with the National Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) to promote Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW), October 6-10.          
          
“At the Maryland State Highway Administration, safety is our number one priority. By promoting Drive Safely Work Week, we’re reminding Maryland employers that safe driving is everyone’s business,” said Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator of the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) and Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “With 93 percent of fatal traffic crashes occurring because someone made a wrong choice on Maryland roadways, virtually all crash fatalities could be prevented if everyone practiced the five tenets of the Choose Safety for Life campaign: B-SAFE – Buckle up, Slow down – speeding kills, Always drive sober, Focus, Everyone share the road.”          
          
In 2007, the cost of motor vehicle crashes in Maryland totaled $7.5 billion. More importantly, Maryland employers lose an estimated $1.2 billion annually in workplace and market productivity due to motor vehicle crashes. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, traffic crashes are the leading cause of work-related fatalities in the United States. A study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that 56 percent of fatally injured workers were not wearing a seat belt. NIOSH identified other risk factors for work-related car crashes, including: running off the road or failing to stay in the proper lane, speeding, inattention and drowsiness. T-SAFE is a program designed specifically to assist Maryland’s employers in implementing traffic safety programs to protect their employees and decrease the cost of motor vehicle crashes.          
          
Sponsored each year by NETS, DSWW is a campaign committed to improving the safety and health of the nation’s workforce. Occurring every first full week of October, DSWW encourages workers to adapt safe driving habits. This year’s theme is “Take the high road: Share the road. It belongs to everyone.”          
          
The Choose Safety for Life campaign is a collaboration of public and private partners joining together to prevent traffic fatalities and injuries by engaging everyone – drivers, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists – in raising traffic safety awareness. Learn more at www.choosesafetyforlife.com.          
          
* Sources: Maryland State Highway Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and American Journal of Preventative Medicine.           
          
# # #