Drive Safer Sunday in 14th Year of Observance After Family’s Son Was Killed in Car Accident
A highway safety focused non-profit is reminding others about road safety for those traveling on Sunday in light of the founders losing their son in a car accident in 2002.
Road Side America, founded by Steve Owings and his wife Susan Owings, is bringing awareness to car accidents through the 14th Annual Drive Safer Sunday, according to Business Wire.
“Please, remind your students returning to colleges and universities by car of the highway perils that day,” Steve Owings said.
“Our son Cullum was killed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2002 when his car – stopped in an interstate traffic jam – was crushed from behind by a speeding tractor trailer.”
Cullum Owings was returning from Atlanta to Washington & Lee University on the day of the accident, Steve Owings said to The Daily Caller News Foundation over email.
Precautions include drivers getting rest before operating a vehicle, taking breaks in between traveling, driving during off peak hours, giving considerable distance to large vehicles and being vigilant of their surroundings in and outside of the car, Business Wire reported.
It is recommended to drive in the morning as opposed to the afternoon or evening, according to Forbes.
The American Automobile Association projects 48.5 million Americans will be on the road over Thanksgiving weekend, which is defined as the holiday period between Wednesday and Sunday.
Travel times on Sunday are expected to be longer because many will be traveling back home.
“U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and David Perdue, R-Ga. were joined by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., in introducing a Drive Safer Sunday resolution in the Senate again this year, which passed unanimously on November 15,” a press statement from Road Side America, obtained by TheDCNF, said.
The resolution also calls on the Senate to encourage “national trucking firms to alert employee drivers to be especially focused on driving safely on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.”
Nearly 47 percent of students brought cars to their college campuses in the 2016-2017 academic year, according to data given by 214 national universities to U.S. News.
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