Safety Counts
Data and statistics drive our efforts. Facts provide important feedback on what works. We work closely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), and Safer New Mexico to coordinate our efforts with theirs for maximum impact on various road safety initiatives including promoting the safe practice of always driving the speed limit and wearing seat belts.
Speeding increases the severity and frequency of crashes. Good drivers can make mistakes. When a vehicle is speeding, other drivers on the road may not realize how fast the speeding vehicle is going and miscalculate their decisions. And given that speeding can be perceived as an acceptable driving behavior, more attention needs to be given to just how dangerous it is in order to change the social norms around it.
Seat belt use greatly reduces the risk of injury and death. Even responsible people can make mistakes. Three out of four car seats used for infants and children are used incorrectly. Buckling up in the front seat can reduces fatal injury by 45%. There is safety in numbers.
Speed was a factor in 31% of US teen driver fatalities.4
26% of total traffic fatalities are caused by speeding.2
Speeding killed 9,378 people in 2018.3
Speed-related crashes cost Americans $40.4 billion each year.4
Over 1/2 of drivers reported driving more than 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway.5
Nearly half of all drivers say they have driven 10 mph over the speed limit on a residential street.6
There were 3,659 crashes in 2018 in New Mexico due to speeding.1
Over 50% of crashes in New Mexico due to speeding were among drivers aged 15-29.1
Seat belt use is one of the most effective ways to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes.2
Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants (younger than 1 year old) and by 54% for toddlers (1 to 4 years old) in passenger cars.5
112 passengers not wearing seat belts were killed in crashes in New Mexico in 2018.4
47% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2017 were unrestrained.1
Most fatalities due to not wearing seat belts were among people ages 25-34.4
In fatal crashes in 2017, about 83% of passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected from the vehicle were killed.3
39% of females killed in vehicle crashes weren't wearing a seat belt.4
51% of males killed in vehicle crashes weren't wearing a seat belt.4
You can reduce the risk of a fatal injury by 45% when buckling up in the front seat of a passenger vehicle.2
In 2017, seat belts saved almost 15,000 lives of passenger vehicle occupants.4
An estimated 325 lives of children under 5 were saved by car seats in 2017.4
