The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2011 to 2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety. CDC is excited to be part of this effort to enhance focus on protecting people on the road.  As a first step, CDC is releasing fact sheets showing the tremendous cost burden of deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the United States, and highlighting strategies to prevent these deaths. 

Over 30,000 people are killed in crashes each year in the United States. In 2005, in addition to the impact on victims’ family and friends, crash deaths resulted in $41 billion in medical and work loss costs. A new CDC data analysis looked at the costs of crash deaths by state to determine total medical and work loss costs and found that half of all costs were found in only 10 states.

CDC’s data analysis found that the ten states with the highest medical and work loss costs were California ($4.16 billion), Texas ($3.50 billion), Florida ($3.16 billion), Georgia ($1.55 billion), Pennsylvania ($1.52 billion), North Carolina ($1.50 billion), New York ($1.33 billion), Illinois ($1.32 billion), Ohio ($1.23 billion), and Tennessee ($1.15 billion).

Costs were calculated to include both medical and work-loss costs.

Individual state fact sheets with state-specific cost information are now available: http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/statecosts

Learn more about your state’s costs and CDC’s recommendations for safety on the road:

• CDC  Heath and Safety Feature: State-based Costs of Crash Deaths      http://www.cdc.gov/features/CrashCosts/
• CDC Costs of Crash Deaths by State                                                  http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/statecosts  
• CDC Motor Vehicle Safety                                                                                           http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety

Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020  http://www.who.int/roadsafety/decade_of_action/en/index.html

Creative Visions, which is part of a joint collaboration among community non-profits and faith- based organization forming a community response team, recently launched an initiative to expand the response team’s efforts by providing a mobile unit to patrol the community during late night and early morning hours.

The mobile unit which operates between the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. or later if needed, is being provided by Creative Visions and is manned by community volunteers who feel that resources must be available beyond the traditional hours of operations of most community organizations.

“The mobile unit not only operates to prevent crime, but provides a safe haven for community members regardless of the time of day or night”, said Creative Visions founder and CEO Ako Abdul- Samad. “ What we are finding is that there are many young people between the ages of 18 on up who are able to “hang out” with friends during the day, but are basically homeless at night.  Many of them are resorting to criminal or deviant conduct to survive. “

The unit contains such items as blankets and jackets for the homeless during the winter, personal hygiene products for males and females, snacks, and other supplies. The mobile unit also provides information on community resources where individuals may receive assistance. Creative Visions provides the gas, use of the van and many of the other supplies. Family Dollar recently made a donation to help purchase hygiene items.

 If you would like to contribute supplies for the mobile unit, wish to volunteer or need assistance, please call 244-4003.