Buckle up. Drive sober. Drive Attentively. Drive at safe speeds and non-aggressively.
These are the components of Safe & Sober, a national and state program administered by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety. Law enforcement in Minnesota – local police, county sheriffs and State Patrol – participate to educate drivers and enforce traffic laws. The primary objectives of Safe and Sober program are to increase seat belt use and to reduce alcohol-related crashes.
- Injuries from traffic crashes are the leading cause of death of people from age 1 to 34.
- Seat belt use reduces the chance of dying in a crash by 50 percent
- Two-thirds of Minnesotans killed in crashes were not wearing seat belts.
- About 40 percent of all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related.
- Speeding is the leading cause in fatal crashes.
- Inattentive driving is the leading cause of injury crashes, and second highest cause of fatal crashes.
- In Minnesota, there is a murder every 67.9 hours. In comparison, there is a traffic fatality every 15 hours.