As a responsible citizen, ensure safety on the road by following these driver safety tips:

• Avoid aggressive driving. Concentrate, relax, drive the posted speed limit, identify alternate routes, or use public transportation.
• Put down the cell phone. If you must talk on the phone while driving, use a headset.
• Take a break. If you are feeling drowsy, pull over and take a short nap.
• Drive the speed limit. Avoid speeding to avoid accidents.
• Don’t drink and drive. Driving under the influence is not only illegal, it is lethal.
• Put on your seat belt. Safety is just a “click” away.
• Keep your eyes open. Look for pedestrians, bicyclists and erratic movements of other cars. Avoid distractions within the vehicle.
• Develop your skills. If you are a new driver, take a driver education class and drive while being supervised.
• Assess your skills. If you are an older driver, evaluate your own driving performance. Utilize AARP’s Driver Safety Program (www.aarp.org/families/driver_safety) or AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (www.seniordrivers.org).
• Stop. Red-light running has become a national safety problem and motorists are more likely to be injured in crashes involving red-light running than any other type of crashes.

As a transportation professional, follow these practices and procedures to reduce deaths on the highway:

• Provide turn lanes when necessary. Studies have shown that providing turn lanes for left-turning vehicles can reduce accidents by 32 percent.
• Utilize signalization countermeasures. Countermeasures such as 12-inch signal heads, separate signals over each lane, higher intensity signals and changing the length of signal cycles helps to improve traffic flow and reduce vehicle crashes.
• Consider the implementation of non-traditional intersection design. Use roundabouts and traffic circles where possible.
• Improve pavement condition. Upgrade pavement quality to better drain the road and resist skidding.
• Improve driver sight distance. Restrict parking near intersections and move stop lines back from intersections.
• Install lane-use control signs. At intersections where drivers might have trouble positioning themselves in the correct lane, intersection lane control signs should be mounted overhead on a signal mast arm.
• Implement public awareness campaigns. Develop a sustained, comprehensive campaign that reaches both motorists and pedestrians.
• Identify and decrease road and traffic hazards. Repair crosswalks and stop lines, install barriers to discourage pedestrians from crossing at unsafe locations and improve lighting and signs where necessary.
• Improve work zone intersection safety. Use advance arrow boards and portable, changeable message signs as well as larger, brighter devices to safely guide vehicles.
• Install red-light enforcement cameras. Red-light-runners cause an estimated 92,000 crashes, resulting in about 950 deaths and 90,000 injuries annually.